Joy the Baker » Pie

Peach Blueberry Pie

joythebaker — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 08:26:41 +0000

Before you roll your eyes, and dismiss this dessert as something that’s too complicated for you… something that’s out of your skill set… something that you simply don’t have the time or energy for… please. Just give me a minute.

Everyone should know how to make a pie.

If you know how to make pie, you know how to make love.

What do you do for a living? Are you an accountant? How do you do that? I can barely count. Are you a barista? A lawyer? A super mom? A welder? A hat maker? Awesome.

I want you to know how to make a pie. It’s really important to me. Can we get on this together?

There are things you should know before we start.

Making pie is not necessarily easy. Pie is rarely perfect. Making pie might be a little frustrating.

Wait… who was that person that said the best things in the world are also the easiest? No one. People don’t say that… because it’s totally not true.

Am I doing a good job with this pep talk? Do I need to yell?

Making pie starts by making pie crust.

Stay with me. We can totally do this. We don’t need to buy that pre-made junk.

Homemade pie crust is part of the love we’re making. It’s love. We can’t cut corners.

Get on board with butter. Cold butter.

We use our fingers to quickly incorporate the cold butter cubes into the flour mixture. It seems like a lot of butter. It seems like a lot of blessings from heaven.

We’ll add just a touch in vinegar to the dough. What!? Yea. Don’t worry. We won’t taste it.

A touch of acid really helps with the flakiness of the crust. Pro tips.

Are you worried about how shaggy this crust is?

This is where the love comes in.

Loving hands divide the shaggy dough and gently knead it into two disks. Tender but strong hands. Do you have those? We need the dough to come together, but we want to leave little bits of butter speckled throughout the dough… so we come with the tenderness.

See the butter bits!? That’s what we want.

These disks get wrapped in plastic wrap and refrigerated for an hour.

We refrigerate dough because we want to moisture to distribute, and the butter to re-chill. Refrigerating the dough will make the rolling process easier.

Fruit time.

I’m certain that there are few things better than ripe summer peaches and fresh blueberries.

Because this is pie, we have to add a thickener (flour and cornstarch) and a few spices for flare.

Sprinkle and toss. Again with the tender but firm hand.

A generous sprinkle of flour on a clean counter is how we’ll start rolling out the dough.

Do you see what happened here? Near the center of that dough was a tear in my crust… because that’s real life. I patched it and rolled the crust out just a bit more.

Oops… yea… I had to take a bit more extra crust and patch it again.

That’s love.. sometimes it needs a band-aid.

We’ll roll two crusts. Pile in the fruit mixture, and pile on another crust. Pinch the pie crust with your fingers, or press together with a fork. Both are pretty pretty.

Brushing with a beaten egg makes for a beautiful brown top.

Extra cinnamon sugar? Always a good idea.

Beautifully golden brown pie.

It’s not perfect, but somehow it’s perfect in those imperfections. Well… if our imperfections include sugary baked peaches and blueberries in a buttery crust… I suppose it’s a good life after all.

The crusts tore bit. I patched them. The crust browned as it did, with some sides darker than others. The fruit bubbled over a bit. It took just over two hours to come together. All of this? Totally fine.

Slice generously and serve with vanilla ice cream. It tastes like pure summer. It tastes like Sundays after church. It tastes like grandmothers. It tastes like pure love. It’s important. I really want you to know how to make love. Will you do this? Please. Awesome. High five.

Peach and Blueberry Pie

makes one 9-inch pie

Print this Recipe!

For the Crust:

2 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold, cut into cubes

5 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons ice cold water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

For the Filling:

about 3 pounds ripe peaches (I used about 6 peaches)

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 to 2/3 cups granulated sugar (depending on the sweetness of your peaches)

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

scant 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon ground coriander

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon cornstarch

2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 egg, beaten, for egg wash

2 tablespoons sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for topping crust before baking

To make the crust, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt. Add cold, cubed butter and, using your fingers, work the butter into the flour mixture. Quickly break the butter down into the flour mixture, some butter pieces will be the size of oat flakes, some will be the size of peas. Stir together the ice cold water and vinegar. Create a well in the butter and flour mixture and pour in the water and vinegar mixture. Use a fork to bring to dough together. Try to moisten all of the flour bits. On a lightly floured work surface, dump out the dough mixture. It will be moist and shaggy. That’s perfect. Divide the dough in two and gently knead into two disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

To make the filling, wash and slice peaches. In a medium bowl, combine peach slices and blueberries. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar, spices, flour, and cornstarch. Pour the sugar mixture over the fruit, and gently toss together with a wooden spoon. Stir in the lemon juice. Place bowl of fruit in the fridge to rest while you roll the crust out.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place a rack in the center of the oven, and place a baking sheet on the lower rack, just below where you’re going to place the pie. This will catch any pie drippings without making a mess of your oven.

Remove one of the pie dough disks from the fridge. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into about a 13-inch round. Roll the dough a few strokes, then use your fingers to move the emerging circle around the floured surface. This ensures that the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface. The circle won’t be perfect, that’s ok. Try not to get any tears in the rolled out dough, but if you do, they can be patched together with extra dough. When you roll the dough and you can see it start springing back, that means that the butter is warming and the crust shouldn’t be rolled out anymore. Gently lift the 13-inch round from the floured surface and center in the 9-inch baking dish. Place in the fridge while you roll out the top crust.

Roll out the top crust just as you did the bottom crust, moving the dough across the floured surface every once in a while, and creating a roughly 13-inch circle. Remove the bottom crust and fruit filling from the fridge. Gently pour the fruit filling into the pie dish. Carefully remove the top crust from the work surface and drape over the fruit in the pie dish. With a small knife, trim the crust, leaving about 3/4-inch overhang. With your fingers press the top and bottom crusts together and fold under. Use a fork or your fingers to crimp the edges of the dough. Cut five small slits in the top of the crust so the juices and steam can vent. Brush lightly with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar mixture.

Place pie in the oven and bake at 400 degrees F for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 375 and bake for 45 to 55 more minutes. Remove from the oven when crust is browned and golden, and the juices are bubbling. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 2 hours before serving. Place covered in the fridge to store. Pie lasts up to 3 or 4 days.

Almost No-Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie with Maple Whipped Cream

joythebaker — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 07:52:11 +0000

I feel like Thanksgiving is an experiment in just how many things you can jam into your oven in a two day period.

Turkey. Other birds. Stuffing. Yams. Green beans. Pie. Cakes. Owls. Ash trays. Lasagna. Kittens. Ravioli. Squashes.

I mean…. Seriously. That’s a full oven.

Because I only want to partially horn in on that oven action, I’ve made an Almost No-Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie.

When you call it Aaaaalllllmost No-Bake Pie, it’s actually a Not No-Bake Pie. We’re working with a passive aggressive double negatives here. My apologies.

This pie is exactly what I want it to be. Pretty. Delicious… and full of my Homemade Pumpkin Pie Spice. The crust is crushed up crisp ginger snaps mixed with a bit of sugar and butter. Divine. The filling is creamy pumpkin comfort. The topping is Maple Whipped Cream.

That’s exactly three layers of Autumn flavors.

Win.

I made this pie in a standard pie dish, but after I struggled so much getting the crust and the slices out in decent looking pieces… I think a tart pan with a removable bottom or in eight individual ramekins would work wonderfully. Just thought you might like options.

Also! If you buy one of those pre-made graham cracker pie crusts from the grocery store, then this pie is totally a No-Bake situation. Are you into that sort of thing? No judgement.

Face it. Pies are pretty.

Almost No-Bake Pumpkin Cream Pie

makes one 9-inch pie or tart or 8 individual ramekin pies

Print this Recipe!

For the Crust:

1 1/2 cups finely crushed graham crackers or crisp ginger snap cookies

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

pinch of salt

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

For the Filling:

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract

1 teaspoon molasses

2 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree

For Topping:

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons pure maple syrup

For the Crust:

In a medium bowl, combine crushed graham crackers or ginger snaps with sugar, salt and melted butter. Toss together to coat the entire mixture in butter. Press into a 9-inch baking dish, a tart pan with a removable bottom or 8 individual ramekins. I like making these no bake desserts in a tart pan or in individual ramekins so I don’t have to fuss with fighting to remove the sliced pie from the pie pan.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before adding the filling.

To make the Filling:

Beat cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric stand mixer until smooth and creamy. Both fats should be well softened to ensure the filling is lump free. Add the powdered sugar to the mixture and beat until smooth and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, molasses, pumpkin pie spice and pumpkin puree and beat until thoroughly combined. If you find that your filling is lumpy, pass it through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl. I did that. No shame in that game.

Spoon the filling into the cooled pie or tart shell, or divide into individual ramekins. Let pie chill in the fridge overnight. This is actually important… the pie won’t be settled enough in 2 hours. Overnight is best.

To Make the Topping:

Beat together heavy cream and maple syrup until cream is in soft peaks. Spread over the chilled pie and sprinkle with more maple syrup just before slicing. Slice and serve.

A November Reminder

joythebaker — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 02:54:57 +0000

Starbucks switched their paper cups to their festive holiday cups.

That can only mean one thing: it’s time for Dad’s Sweet Potato Pie with Easy No-Roll Pie Crust.

Two random notes:

ps. Pumpkin Spice Lattes are weeeeird.

pps. I like coffee that tastes like coffee, not pie.

How To Make Pie Crust… do it.

joythebaker — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:33:02 +0000

We’ve talked about pie crust before, you and I.

I thought today might be a good day for a little refresher. The breeze outside is mighty fine, the sun seems pretty friendly, I’ve got chilled butter in the fridge, and… tomorrow I want to show you how to make a double crusted berry pie… so let’s nail this pie crust first.

Can we do this? Of course we can. I’ll talk you through it and leave hella directions for you to print out. Yes, hella. High five.

Any respectable pie crust has butter. Lots of butter. Lots of cold cold cold butter.

I’ve cut up our two sticks of cold butter into cold cubes and tossed them with the dry ingredients.

Next… dump the whole dang thing on the tabletop. The whole dang thing. Don’t be scared. We’re in this together.

Bust out that rolling pin. I use the rolling pin to flatten out the cold butter cubes and incorporate them into the dry ingredients. Some people use their fingers. Some people use a pastry cutter. Other people use a food processor. Sure… but that’s not what we’re talking about here.

Roll the loose dry ingredients and the cold butter, using your hands or a bench knife to pile up the mixture and roll it out again. The goal here is to make flattened sheets of cold butter within the flour mixture.

Like this! I’ve put it all back in the bowl. I used my hands to do this. I also made a little well in the center of the butter and flour mixture. That’s where I’m going to pour in the cold buttermilk. Mmmm.

Believe it or not this is the dough after I’ve added the cold buttermilk. But it’s so shaggy!? Yes… yes it is. It’ll all come together. It just needs a good pressing together and an hour long rest in the refrigerator.

I’ve divided the dough into two rough balls.

Wrap the balls in waxed paper and place in the fridge for at least an hour. Resting the dough like this is super important. It helps the butter re-chill which is important when it comes to rolling out and baking the dough aaand the rest helps the liquid incorporate properly into the dough.

Chilled dough disk on a well floured surface just before the rolling out process. I’ll sprinkle flour on top too before I attack this thing with the rolling pin.

Rolled out.

Panned up and trimmed.

This particular pie crust was for an Apple Pie.

Once the top crust is rolled out and placed over the filling, trim the excess dough so that there’s about 1/2 to 1-inch of extra crust.

Pinch the extra dough together with your fingers or with the tines of a fork. Make a pretty pattern.

Not so bad… right? Tomorrow we throw berries in the mix. Prepare.

Buttermilk Pie Crust

makes a double crusted 9-inch pie crust

Print this Recipe!

2 sticks (8 ounces) cold unsalted butter

2 1/2 (12 ounces) cups all purpose flour

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (5 to 6 ounces) buttermilk

1. Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and place in the freezer to chill for 15 minutes. Measure out the buttermilk and store in the refrigerator to keep it cold (you could even put it in the freezer for a few minutes too).

2. Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Take the cold butter from the freezer and toss it with the flour mixture.

3. Dump the cold butter cubes and flour mixture onto a large work area for rolling. With a rolling pin, roll the mixture, flattening the butter cubes with the flour into long, thin, floured butter sheets. Work quickly to ensure that the butter stays cold. Below is what the rolled butter and flour look like after I’

ve gathered them together on the work surface a bit.

4. Place the flour and flattened butter back in the large bowl and chill for 10 minutes. When the butter is cold, remove the bowl from the refrigerator, make a small well in the center of the flour and butter mixture. Add the cold buttermilk to the bowl all at once. Begin to bring the dough together with one hand ( keep the other hand free to answer the phone). Moisten all of the flour with the milk, using your hand to break up large clumps of milk and flour. The dough will be rather shaggy, but you can add another tablespoon of buttermilk, if you see that all your flour isn’t moistened. Form the dough into two disks. The disks will be rough, and hard to shape together, but once they rest in the fridge for an hour, they’

ll be easier to roll out.

5. Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator. At this point, the dough will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three weeks. For freezing, roll the dough out into sheets and wrap them in plastic film.

6. Roll out the top crust large enough to cut a 12-inch circle.

Transfer the pie filling mixture to the pie shell. Moisten the border of the bottom crust by brushing it lightly with water and place the top crust over the filling. Trim the overhang of the top crust so that there is only 1/2-inch of overhand. Tuck the overhand under the bottom crust boarder and press down all around to seal it. Crimp the border using a fork or your fingers and make about 5 evenly spaced 2-inch slashes starting about 1 inch from the center of the pie and radiating toward the edge. Cover the pie loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for 1 hour before baking. This will chill and relax the pastry, preventing shrinking.

How To Make Apricot Crostatas

joythebaker — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 08:23:39 +0000

These are my Mom’s hands. They’re two parts lady lumber jack, one part awesome raiser of children, and three parts amazing gardener. That’s six parts total. Arbitrary… I know.

I love Mom hands… they tend to have super knowledge.

I taught my mamabear how to make Apricot Crostatas. Pie dough. Egg wash. Wait. Not so much egg wash. Fruit. Fold. That’s basically how to lesson went.

What. Back up. What the heck is a Crostata? I’m glad you asked. Crostatas are like free form fruit pies… pies without the limitations of a pie tin. I like to make a mini version of a crostata because… I’m greedy and I don’t like to share. Also… eating six mini crostatas is easier on the guilt brain that eating and entire regular sized crostata. Been there. Done it. Whateves.

Come on… let’s bake fruit things.

Let’s start with pie dough. Please don’t freak out. It’s just butter and flour and water… you can totally do this.

With your fingers break up the cold (frozen, even) fat chunks into the flour and sugar mixture. Don’t be shy… really get in there. You’ll get to about this point in the dough making process…

That wasn’t so bad, now was it? Now we need to add the cold cold cold water.

Theme? Everything has to be cold here. Ok.. not the flour, salt and sugar… but everything else. The cold will keep the fat from completely incorporating into the dough. You want little buttery fat pockets. That’s what makes pie crust so freakin’ flaky.

Add cold water to the butter and flour mixture. Work it together with a fork until all of the ingredients have been moistened.

Moistened is a weird word.

Dump the dough, in a shaggy mess, onto the counter. Work it together with your hands. Once it forms a rough ball, smash it slightly with the heal of your hand… just cause it feels good… and because you’re the boss of the dough. So there.

Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for at least an hour.

This is important… it allows the gluten to relax, the fat to re-chill and the moisture to mellow into the dough.

These are pretty. These apricots are sexy. Slice them up and they’re ready for crostatas. Feel free to use fresh raspberries or blueberries. Blackberries are rad. Avoid strawberries and bananas… no good.. moisture issues.

Pits. It’s only natural.

Once the dough is properly chilled, divide it into eight or sixteen pieces. Depending on whether or not you doubled the recipe.

Roll the dough pieces out into circles. Not perfect circles. Kinda-sorta circles is good enough.

We’re going to use egg wash two times in this whole situation. Before we add the fruit, and just before the crostatas go in the oven. Egg wash is a beaten egg with a splash of milk. Sweet.

Brush the dough circle lightly with egg wash.

Ok… that’s a little heavy handed with the wash… but it’s ok.

Pile on the sliced apricots. I think we used about 4 to 6 apricot wedges per crostata.

Carefully fold the dough up and around the fruit. The egg wash will help the dough stick to itself.

Pile the crostatas onto a baking sheet and chill for an hour before baking. Do note… this isn’t how we bake the crostatas. We’ll put them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spread them out more. It’ll work out better that way.

Apricot Crostatas

makes 8 crostatas

pie dough recipe from Dorie Greenspan

Print this Recipe!

For the dough:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 sticks very cold (frozen is fine) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces
2 1/2 tablespoons very cold (frozen is even better) vegetable shortening (non-trans fat), cut into 2 pieces
About 1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:

12 to 15 ripe apricots, each sliced into 6 wedges
2 eggs plus 2 Tablespoons of milk for egg wash
3/4 cup of sugar for coating crostatas.

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 pieces the size of fat green peas and others the size of barley. Pulsing the machine on and off, add 3 tablespoons of the water at a time.

Add a little water and pulse once; add some more water and 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, or even a few drops more, to get a dough that will stick together when pinched. If you’ve got big pieces of butter, that’s fine. The dough is ready and should be scraped out of the work bowl and on to a smooth work surface.

If you don’t want to bother with a food processor, this dough can easily be made with your two hands to break up the butter and shortening in the flour, and a fork to incorporate the cold water.

Shape the dough into a disk and wrap it. Refrigerate the dough at least 1 hour before rolling. The dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 1 month.

Once the dough is chilled, remove from the fridge, cut into eight approximately even pieces. Roll each piece out into a rough circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Brush lightly with egg wash. Pile in 4-6 apricot wedges and carefully fold the dough around the fruit, using the egg wash as a glue. Once all eight of the crostatas are complete, place in the fridge to chill for an hour before baking.

While the crostatas chill, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Line one or two baking sheets with parchment paper.

Spread the crostatas out between the baking sheets and brush with egg wash. Sprinkle generously with sugar, both inside the crostata and on the egg washed pie dough. Don’t be shy with the sugar, but you may want to sample an apricot slice before baking to see just how sweet they are. That will help with your sugar dispensing.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the dough has puffed slightly and browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the baking sheet. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Berry Cobbler Pie Bars

joythebaker — Tue, 04 May 2010 17:02:02 +0000

We’re all friends here, right?

I can tell you things.

I can tell you things like… how I put sour cream on just about everything that I ate yesterday.

Sour cream on my granola. Sour cream on eggs. Sour cream on kale. Sour cream in my dessert. Sour cream… everywhere.

I feel a little guilty.. but certainly not guilty enough to stop.

I also feel a little guilty about how I’m equally obsessed with watching The Real Housewives of New York City and wearing chipped gunmetal silver nail polish on my nails. Both are tacky as all heck… still though… I’m all up on it.

Today… berry cobbler bars. Because it’s just about summer and you should. They have sour cream in them. Of course they do. Welcome to my obsession.

These pie bars are my favorite way to make a summer pie, without actually having to make a pie. I’m a huge fan of a good, old press in shortbread crust. So buttery and crisp. The filling is creamy and berry studded with an alluring tang from the sour cream.

Feel free to use fresh berries, or frozen berries, or a combination of fresh and frozen. I love the combination of raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. I would stay away from strawberries for this recipe. They hold lots of water that might interfere with the sour cream filling.

Berry Cobbler Pie Bars

adapted from The Pastry Queen

makes one half sheet pan of bars

Print this Recipe!

Crust and Topping

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into cubes

zest of two lemons

Berry Filling

4 large eggs

2 cups sugar

1 cup sour cream

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

pinch of salt

2 (16-ounce) packages frozen mixd berries, defrosted and drained

(You can also use 6 cups of fresh berries, or 1 (16-ounce) package frozen berries and 3 cups of fresh berries)

To make the crust and topping-

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a half sheet baking pan (12×17-inch) with butter or cooking spray and set aside. If you use a 9×13-inch baking pan you’ll have thicker bars. Zest two lemons. Measure out the sugar onto a clean work surface. Rub the lemon zest into the sugar with a bench scraper or the back of a spoon. Rubbing the zest into the sugar will release oils from the zest and create a lemon scented sugar.

Combine lemon sugar, flour, salt and butter in an electric mixer fit with a paddle attachment. Beat the ingredients on medium speed until the mixture looks dry and crumbly.

Reserve 1 1/2 cups of the crust mixture to use as the topping. Press the remaining mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake the crust for 12 to 15 minutes until it is golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes while you make the filling.

To make the filling-

Whisk the eggs in a large bowl. Add the sugar, sour cream, flour and salt. Gently fold in the berries. Spoon the mixture evenly over the crust. You may have to distribute the berries evenly around.

Sprinkle the reserved crust mixture evenly over the filling. Bake for 45 to 55 minutes until the top is lightly browned. Cool for 1 hour before slicing.

**If you’re using frozen berries, be sure to defrost and drain the excess liquid. Place the frozen berries on a plate in the refrigerator overnight. They’re defrosted and ready for bar baking!

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie

joythebaker — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 07:16:49 +0000

It’s Spring! I know because I’ve busted out my hippie print wrap skirt and I’ve got the last of the Cadbury Cream Eggs in my mouth at this very moment. Thank goodness I’ve reached the end of the Easter candy… my thighs are angry with me… or angry with my tight fitting jeans… I can’t tell.

The best part about this budding Spring, besides the end of Easter candy? I get to play with my food and play with my friends. More specifically… I get to play with first of the season strawberries and my two best friends Whitney and Rachel.

Apparently when my friends and I play with food… we do it for an audience. April 10th. Surfas. Los Angeles. Strawberry cooking demonstration. That’s today. That’s happening.

I know.. I know.. I’m always popping up in Los Angeles and Sonoma and never in your neck of the woods. I’m sorry. I should just take myself on tour. While I figure how to rent myself a rock star tour bus, take a peek at what I’m cooking up for the cooking demonstration. Strawberry Banana Cream Pie. It’s like heaven with fruit.

Can we start at the beginning? There are a handful of steps that need to happen to make this recipe work. I can help you through it. We can totally hold hands.

First, you should know that I made this pie is a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. This choice allowed me to pulse my tart shell crust in a food processor and press it into the tart pan with my fingers. Easy easy!

Chunky sweet dough.

Finger pressed.

The tart dough needs to be fully baked before it meets the filling. I froze the dough and lined it with buttered foil. That’s the secret to keeping the tart dough from sinking!

It’s like a giant crisp sugar cookie.

Can we talk about custard? We’re heating egg yolks and milk, sugar and cornstarch. It’s science. It’s also magic.

Warm milk introduced to eggs. The cooking begins.

Custard cooks up sloooow… then it’s done before you know it . It’s tricky like that. Whisk the mixture constantly and don’t be afraid to remove the pan from the flame to keep it from cooking too quickly.

Finishing the custard with butter… silky genius.

Cover with plastic and cool in the refrigerator until nice and cold.

This is getting good.

This is getting really good.

Good gravy I love my life!

Lunch. And dinner. And dessert. And tomorrow’s breakfast.

Strawberry Banana Cream Pie
adapted from Dorie Greenspan

recipe makes 1 9-inch pie

Print this Recipe!

for the filling:
2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 ripe bananas, sliced
10 fresh strawberries, sliced

for the topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

for the tart crust, if not using mini Dufour shells:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cups powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick plus 1 tablespoons (9 tablespoons) unsalted cutter, cold or frozen, cut into cubes
1 large egg yolk

to make the tart crust:
Put the flour, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor fit the the blade attachment. Pulse a few times to combine. Scatter the pieces of cold butter over the dry ingredients and pulse until the butter is coarsely cut in. There will be pieces of butter that are the size of oatmeal flakes and butter the size of peas. Beat the egg yolk with a fork and add a little of the egg yolk at a time to the flour mixture. Pulse for 10 seconds at a time. When the egg is in, process in longer pulses until the dough forms clumps and curds. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and, very lightly and sparingly, knead the dough just to incorporate any dry ingredients that may have escaped mixing.

Butter a 9-inch fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough evenly over the bottom and the sides of the pan. Press the crust so that the pieces cling to one another, but not so hard that the crust loses its crumbly texture. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter the shiny side of a piece of foil and fit the foil, butter side down, tightly against the frozen crust. Put the tart pan on a baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes. Carefully remove the foil. If the crust is puffed, gently press it down with your fingers.
Bake the uncovered crust for 8 to 10 more minutes on the baking sheet. Keep an eye on the crust. It will brown quickly.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before filling.

to make the filling:
Bring the milk to a boil in a small saucepan.

In a large, heavy-bottom saucepan, whisk the yolks together with the brown sugar, cornstarch and salt until well blended and thick. Whisking without stopping, drizzle about 1/4 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, warming the eggs so they don’t cook and curdle. Still whisking, slowly add the rest of the hot milk in a steady steam.

Place the pan over medium heat and, whisking constantly (make sure to get the edges of the pan), bring the mixture to a boil. Boil, still whisking for one minute before removing from the pan from the heat. Mixture will be thick and silky. Be warned, once the mixture starts to boil, it will thicken very quickly. Don’t be afraid to remove the pan from the flame to whisk it smooth.

Whisk in the vanilla extract. Let stand for 5 minutes then whisk in the butter, stirring until fully incorporated and the custard is smooth and silky. Transfer custard to a medium bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that the plastic touches the surface of the custard and refrigerate until cold throughout. Custard can be refrigerated up to three days.

When ready to assemble the pie, slice bananas and strawberries into thin, round slices.
Whisk the cold custard to loosen. Add a handful of banana slices. Stir.
Arrange a thin layer of banana slices on the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange a thin layer of strawberries atop the bananas. Reserve some strawberries for topping the pie. Top with banana custard. Smooth out a refrigerate while you make the whipped cream.

for the topping:
With a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat heave cream until it just starts to thicken. Add powdered sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to beat until the cream holds stiff peaks. With a rubber spatula, spoon whipped cream onto banana cream pie filling. Top with sliced strawberries.

Serve pie immediately or refrigerate for several hours before serving. This pie is best served the day it is made, but also isn’t too shabby the next day for a breakfast treat.

What to do with all that Buttermilk

joythebaker — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 07:22:21 +0000

If you’ve been around these parts long enough, you’ve probably noticed that I’m pretty fond of buttermilk.

Buttermilk brings the tang, brings a tender texture… and is all around awesome in baking.

But once you buy the carton for one recipe, what the heck are you supposed to do with the rest of the milk?

Not to worry. I’m looking out for you. Here are a few recipes that will help you use up that carton of buttermilk.

Click around. Maybe you think that Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream is swell.

While you’re busy with buttermilk, I’m going to go stuff my face with more Easter jelly beans. Good? Good.

Brown Sugar Bacon Waffles are a thing of beauty.

I love when a bag of frozen berries gets all fancypants. Warm Berries with Stovetop Dumplings.

This cake is all sorts of classy. It’s baked up in a sheet pan, covered in blackberry jam and Swiss meringue buttercream. It’s a beauty queen. I love it. Blackberry Jam Cake.

Red Velvet Cake with Fluffy White Frosting. This cake is like the cool kid on the playground. Everyone wants to be on their kickball team. Laaaadeeeedaaaa!

I like carrot cake in Spring, don’t you. Carrot Cake Cupcakes with Dulce de Leche Buttercream.

Mmmmm. Buttermilk Pie with Warm Blackberry Sauce. This recipe just warms my heart to bits.

Hop in the kitchen and use up that buttermilk. You’ll feel better. or… I’ll feel better. Someone will feel much better.

If you can’t find buttermilk, or buttermilk puzzles you, or you just want to make your own… I’ve got all sorts of tricks up my sleeve for you.

Apple Pie Granita

joythebaker — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 03:04:40 +0000

I like you. I like you a lot. I mean it… and I don’t think I’ve told you in a while. Sweet. I’m glad you’re here.

Would now be a good time to tell you that I have a serious, though not lasting, aversion to my kitchen these days? I have an even more serious aversion to my oven. For reals.

It’s just that… well, it’s summer! There seems to be so many museums to visit, brunches to have, friends to laugh with, wine to drink… and somehow none of this fun takes place in my kitchen.

Amazingly, and through the miracle that is my freezer, I’ve managed to throw together a lovely and waaaay super easy summer recipe. It’s apple pie meets snow cone, minus the cone, plus a hint of awesome.

If it’s summer in your part of the globe… please please please make this. Remember when you were a kid and used to freeze juice in the ice cube tray? Dangit! Why were those cubes always so rock solid!? This Apple Pie Granita is the adult version of such childhood endeavours. Super sweet!

Apple Pie Granita

recipe from um… Emeril Lagasse

Print this Recipe!

3 cups natural, unfiltered apple juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

big pinch of freshly grated nutmeg

pinch of ground allspice

Combine all of the ingredients in a saucepan over medium high heat. Heat and stir until all of the sugar has dissolved, about 3 minutes. Pour into an 8-inch square glass baking dish. Place in the freezer until icy around the edges, about 1 hour. Using a fork, scrape the icy shards towards the center of the dish. Freeze again for another hour and again scrape the icy shards. Continue freezing and scraping until slushy throughout. Eat standing at the open freezer door, or place in small dishes and serve immediately.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

joythebaker — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 06:08:01 +0000

Pie takes time. Pie requires attentions. Pie demands love and care. Pie, even for an everyday baker like me, is a lost art.

I needed a good, old fashioned, pie contest to help me slow down, take a breath, and dream up the most delicious pie I could.

The most delicious thing I could dream up was this: bananas, homemade peanut butter, chocolate, graham crackers, butter, whipped cream, and as much sugar as I could reasonably pack into a single pie dish…. and some chocolate shavings for good measure.

The result: one mad Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie. The contest: inspired by Whitney and several bottles of wine. The contestants: as serious about pie as they are about being incredibly fashionable and audaciously cool. The competition: stiff. The winner: one devastating, delicious and perfectly tart Key Lime Pie.

Did you need a use for you homemade Honey Roasted Peanut Butter? I’m sure you found some toasted bread to enjoy it with. Just in case you needed an over the top excuse to enjoy life just a bit more… here’s a pie that, while it may not win any pie contests, is sure to make life a whole hell of a lot sweeter.

You’ll need some homemade peanut butter, but if you’re not feeling that ambitious, the jarred stuff will work too.

You’ll need a graham cracker crust, melted chocolate, peanut butter, banana cream pie filling, fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Here’s how it all comes together.

Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

adapted from Martha Stewart, but mostly from me.

Print this Recipe!

For the Crust:

1 3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

3 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

1/2 stick (4 Tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted

For the Chocolate Layer:

2 ounces of dark chocolate, melted over a double boiler

For the Peanut Butter Layer:

3/4 cup homemade peanut butter, or the jarred stuff, chunky or smooth as you see fit

For the Banana Layer:

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

4 large egg yolks

2 cups whole milk

2 Tablespoons cold unsalted butter

3 ripe bananas, thinly sliced

For the Whipped Cream Layer:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 teaspoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the crust, stir the graham cracker crumbs, sugar and salt together in a medium bowl. Pour over the melted butter and stir until all of the dry ingredients are uniformly moist. I use my fingers. Turn the ingredients into a 9-inch pie pan and pat with your fingers to create an even layer of crumbs of the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan.

Put the pan in the freezer while you preheat the oven.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Once heated, place the pie crust on the center rack of the oven and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and set crust aside to cool.

For the chocolate layer, put two inches of water in a medium sauce pan, once simmering, place a larger bowl with the 2 ounces of chocolate in it over the simmering water. Melt the chocolate in this double boiler situation. Once cooled, pour into the baked graham cracker crust and spread around with a spatula. Place in the refrigerator to cool and harden.

Prepare the peanut butter. Once the chocolate is cooled, spread the peanut butter over the melted and hardened chocolate.

To prepare the banana filling, combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a bowl. Add egg yolks, and whisk until smooth. Bring milk to a simmer in a saucepan over medium heat. Add 1/2 cup milk to yolk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Pour mixture into pan with hot milk, and cook, whisking constantly, until mixture begins to bubble and is very thick, about 6 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on this and whisk constantly over a low flame. The cornstarch will make the mixture thicken quickly.

Pour milk mixture through a large-mesh sieve into a bowl. Add butter, and stir until melted. Fold in bananas. Pour into crust. Place plastic wrap directly on surface of filling to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

Make the topping: Beat together cream, sugar, and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread whipped cream over filling. Using a rubber spatula or the back of a spoon, shape topping into peaks.

Make chocolate shavings: Carefully run a sharp knife along the back side of a dark chocolate bar towards yourself. Quickly sprinkle the shavings on the top of the pie. It’s that easy!