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Would You Rather Eat a Fruit or Cream Pie?

partysugar — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 01:30:52 -0700

The other day at Sugar HQ, the geeks had a pie craving so intense they ordered 10 pies from an online bakery. The delicious pies were made with local, seasonal ingredients and homemade butter. They ordered an assortment of flavors, but I preferred the cream pies to their fruit counterparts. If you were in this situation, which pie would you eat?

A Spring Pie For Any Season

YumSugar — Wed, 07 May 2008 16:15:43 -0700

As you all know, I have a problem with pie crusts. I'm terrible with them, they're my baking Achilles' heel. Yet, I absolutely adore them. So when I found this pie on MyRecipes.com, I was over the moon. This springtime pie has a crushed-graham-cracker crust and is filled with a mixture of strawberries splashed with balsamic vinegar. There's no crust to mess up and the filling sounds amazing. If it sounds delectable to you, get the recipe when you read more.

Spring Strawberry Pie
From Cooking Light, May 2001

Ingredients

CRUST:
1 1/3 cups graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
Cooking spray

FILLING:
2 cups sliced strawberries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
6 cups small strawberries

TOPPING:
3 tablespoons graham cracker crumbs
1 tablespoon chopped hazelnuts or almonds
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons butter, melted
1/2 cup frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

Get more recipes at MyRecipes.com

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Combine first 3 ingredients in a bowl, tossing with a fork until moist.

Press into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray.
Bake at 350°F for 15 minutes; cool on a wire rack.
To prepare the filling, combine strawberry slices and vinegar in a medium nonstick skillet.
Place the berry mixture over medium-high heat; cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Stir in 1/4 cup sugar.
Combine the water and cornstarch in a small bowl.
Add to pan, and bring to a boil.
Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat; stir in juice.
Cool completely.
Arrange whole strawberries, stem sides down, in crust.
Pour cooled strawberry mixture over whole strawberries.
Cover loosely, and chill 4 hours.
To prepare the topping, combine 3 tablespoons cracker crumbs, nuts, 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar, and 1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter in a small bowl.
Place crumb mixture in a small skillet over medium heat.
Cook 2 minutes or until golden brown; cool.
Sprinkle crumb mixture over pie.
Top each serving with whipped topping.

Serves 8.

Nutritional Information
CALORIES 229(35% from fat); FAT 8.8g (sat 4.1g,mono 2.8g,poly 1.4g); PROTEIN 2.3g; CHOLESTEROL 14mg; CALCIUM 34mg; SODIUM 176mg; FIBER 3.5g; IRON 1.4mg; CARBOHYDRATE 37g

Like the recipe above? Try out some of these other ones:
- Sensational Strawberry Desserts
- Our Best of Desserts Recipe Collection
- Summer's Best Bounty at CookingLight.com
- Get More Pie Recipes

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What Is Your Favorite Summer Fruit Pie?

partysugar — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 10:15:40 -0700

Easy as Cherry Pie

partysugar — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:30:00 -0700

Hurry, you're running out of time. If you haven't taken advantage of the season's cherries you better do so soon before they're no longer at the markets. Once you have a bag, immediately go home and make this cherry pie. Seriously, it's the best cherry pie you'll ever have. A hint of vanilla enhances the sweetness of the berries. As the pie bakes, the miniature stone fruits turn a dark color and release their juices - the sugar caramelizing. It's absolutely divine, pie heaven. Take care when pitting the cherries, the juice gets everywhere and it stains easily. To impress your family with this all-American Summer favorite, read more.

Cherry Pie
From Bon Appétit

Make this pie several hours in advance to allow plenty of time to cool. The filling will set and it will be easier to slice.

Ingredients

pie crust
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 cups whole pitted sour cherries or dark sweet cherries (about 2 pounds whole unpitted cherries)
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice (if using sour cherries) or 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (if using dark sweet cherries)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon (about) milk
Vanilla ice cream

Directions

Position rack in lower third of oven and preheat to 425°F.
Whisk 1 cup sugar, cornstarch, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Stir in cherries, lemon juice, and vanilla; set aside.
Roll out 1 dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch glass pie dish. Trim dough overhang to 1/2 inch.
Roll out second dough disk on floured surface to 12-inch round. Using large knife or pastry wheel with fluted edge, cut ten 3/4-inch-wide strips from dough round.
Transfer filling to dough-lined dish, mounding slightly in center. Dot with butter.
Arrange dough strips atop filling, forming lattice; trim dough strip overhang to 1/2 inch. Fold bottom crust up over ends of strips and crimp edges to seal. Brush lattice crust (not edges) with milk. Sprinkle lattice with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.
Place pie on rimmed baking sheet and bake 15 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Bake pie until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, covering edges with foil collar if browning too quickly, about 1 hour longer. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. Cut into wedges and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Serves 8-10.

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Yummy Links: From Pawpaws to Patching Pie Crust

YumSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 06:45:00 -0700

Legendary Queen's grocer Fortnum & Mason is now available on this side of the pond. - Serious Eats
Learn all about the fruit known as the pawpaw. - The Kitchn
Why foodies should care about the election. - The Epi-Log
How to patch up that hole or tear in your homemade pie crust. - Baking Bites
What to look out for when selecting brown mushrooms. - Chow
Will eating your favorite cheese help prevent cavities? - FitSugar
Whip up a batch of tomatillo salsa in no time at all. - Cookthink
This Halloween, treat yourself to grown-up versions of your favorite childhood candies. - Bon Appétit

Source

52 Weeks of Baking: Peach Puzzle

YumSugar — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 10:01:31 -0700

The magazine Cook's Country recently hosted a recipe contest where their readers sent in their old-school family recipes. The winner, a crafty "Peach Puzzle" looked delicious, but didn't really catch my fancy until I read the recipe. The whole thing is prepared like an upside-down cake - with an empty ramekin placed in the middle - and when flipped over the ramekin is surprisingly full of a sweet liquid treat! It's wonderfully old-fashioned, absolutely tasty, and I actually couldn't wait to tell everyone how it was made. If you're curious yourself, then check out the recipe now, read more

Definitely serve this one warm. I had leftovers and brought them in to the office the next day. Since the liquid didn't travel well (it spilled all over), the peach puzzle was completely soggy - still tasty, but awful to look at - and had lost its crispy crust.

Peach Puzzle
From Lois Schlademan of Stow, Ohio via Cook's Country Magazine

Serves 7

Lois says to choose peaches that are neither very ripe nor rock-hard. They should give a little when squeezed. Also, be sure to invert the pie plate quickly to avoid losing any of the syrup.

Peaches and Syrup
7 medium peaches , peeled (see note)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
6 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 tablespoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Dough
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter , cut into 1/4-inch pieces and chilled
6 tablespoons milk

For the peaches and syrup:

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Place 6-ounce custard cup or ramekin upside down in center of 9-inch pie plate and arrange peaches around ramekin.
Combine brown sugar, water, butter, vanilla, and salt in medium saucepan and stir over medium heat until sugar dissolves and butter melts, about 5 minutes. Pour syrup over peaches.

For the dough:

Pulse flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in food processor until blended.
Add butter and pulse until flour mixture is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, five to six 1-second pulses.
Turn mixture into medium bowl.
To make dough by hand: Use large holes on box grater to grate frozen butter into bowl with flour mixture, then rub flour-coated pieces between your fingers until flour mixture turns pale yellow and coarse.

To assemble:

Using rubber spatula, fold milk into flour mixture, pressing mixture against sides of bowl to form dough.
Squeeze dough together and flatten into disk. On lightly floured work surface, roll dough into 9-inch circle.
Lay dough directly over peaches and press dough so that it fits snuggly around peaches. The dough will stretch as you fit it around peaches, but do not attach dough to pie plate.
Bake until top is golden brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on rack for 30 minutes.

To Serve:

Place large rimmed serving plate over top of pie plate and quickly invert Puzzle onto plate.
Cut into wedges around each peach and serve, pouring syrup over each portion.

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10 Dishes You Must Make This Fall

partysugar — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 06:50:09 -0700

I feel you. I don't want Summer to end, either. But, alas, it's over. Today is the first day of Fall, so it's high time we face our fears and embrace it! What's not to love about Autumn? Comforting soups, braised meats, fruit-heavy pies - it's a wildly delicious time of year. To ensure that we embrace Fall, I've rounded up my favorite seasonal recipes.

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What Went Wrong? Custard Not Setting

partysugar — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:50:53 -0700

Over the weekend, when I made Martha Stewart's Summer fruit cream pie, something went horribly wrong. As you can tell by the picture, the custard would not set! The recipe seemed simple enough; it's a graham cracker crust filled with cinnamon-berry custard and topped with syrupy peaches. However, I ran into some technical difficulties.
The first time I made the custard it would not thicken, but I realized it was because I didn't add enough cornstarch. The second time, I thought everything went well, but after sitting in the fridge overnight, the custard was soupy and liquidy. While the flavor was superb (I served it to my guests parfait style), the texture was all wrong. I've made custard successfully in the past, and honestly have no clue what went wrong.

Can you help me? Should I have let the custard boil longer? Did it need more fridge time?

Cherry Cobbler Two Ways - Beginner and Expert

YumSugar — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 03:30:05 -0700

To me, one of the sweetest rewards of waiting all year long for warm weather is the sweet-tart, firm, ink-red cherries that flourish for a short season. After ogling Party's cherry pie, I decided it was high time I make my own pastry with this beloved stone fruit. Nothing's more summery than a fruit cobbler, still piping hot from the oven and covered with moist biscuit dough. I'm torn, however, between two different versions: a quickie that calls for frozen dark cherries (so I can save my fresh ones for eating out of hand), and a slightly more laborious (yet equally rewarding) adaptation that takes advantage of juicy, just-pitted fresh fruit. Which one should I make? See both when you read more

The Basics: Pie Crust

partysugar — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 03:30:11 -0700

Years ago I was one of those people who thought making pie dough from scratch was difficult, a waste of time, and downright ridiculous. If the grocery store conveniently sold premade pie crusts, why on earth would I make one? Then I realized the reason I used store bought pie dough was because I was horribly afraid of being a pie-dough failure. In matters that apply to the kitchen, instead of running from my fears, I prefer to confront them.

So I scoured the Internet reading countless pie crust recipes, techniques, and tips and I made my very first pie dough. While it wasn't the best crust ever, it was flavorful and buttery. The rewarding and addictive (all of a sudden I wanted to make pie shells over and over again) experience boosted my confidence level as a home cook.

If you've never made pie crust, or pate brisee, as it's known in French, I highly encourage you to experiment with it this Summer. Once the basic procedure is mastered, you can use the dough for fruit pies, custard pies, savory tarts, hearty quiches, and much more. Check out step-by-step photos and learn how it's done by clicking through