I’ve learned a thing or two about what you like since I joined Pinterest. You like heathy food, football food, chocolate food and pie food. Today, I’m focusing on those last two, they’re the most fun anyway.
If you fancy yourself a bit of a Pinterest junkie and need a new fix, you might want to wander over to Foodie and check that out as well. It’s just as easy to make collections and much easier to share those with the embed feature.
In honor of the upcoming Pi Day (March 14th), here is my collection of Chocolate Pies. Now if you’ll just grab me the strongest coffee you can find and fork, I’d like to get started.
This is a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.
You think that I put a Pumpkin Ale in that pie. It’s a fair assumption, and not a bad route to take when beerifying (that’s a word) a pumpkin pie. Sure, you can use that. Go ahead, be my beer-cookin' guest, it’s not a bad choice. But for this I wanted to play up those brown sugar flavors with a nice barrel aged brown ale. So that’s exactly what I did.
Brown ales don’t get enough air time. They are often forgotten in the beer-of-the-moment hype. Browns are the George Harrison’s of the beer world. The Willem Dafoe’s of the beer world.
But brown ales have a lot of potential, a lot of great flavors, a lot of depth. Especially when they’ve been aged in a bourbon barrel. Like this Palo Santo Marron from Dogfish Head which has unleashed that underrated brown ale potential in a way that will remind the Beer Snobs that it’s here to play. Or make pies. Or maybe both.
I used this Kitchen torch, because it’s amazing, easily one of my favorite kitchen tools. (affiliate link)
Roll the pie dough out on a lightly floured surface and line a 9-inch pie pan. Place in the fridge to chill until the filling is ready.
In a pot over medium heat, add the cream. Heat until the cream starts to bubble around the edges.
In a large bowl whisk together the white sugar, brown sugar and egg yolks. Whisking continually, slowly pour the hot cream into the eggs. Whisk until well combined.
Add the remaining ingredients (other than the brulee sugar), whisk until well combined.
Pour into the prepared pie pan.
Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until the filling puffs slightly and has set around the edges (the center will still be wobbly). Chill until set, at least 4 hours.
Just prior to serving, sprinkle the remaining white sugar over the top of the pie in an even layer. Using a culinary torch brulee the sugar until melted and turned a dark amber color.
There are a few buzz words that seem to grab peoples attention and promote a recipe to Social Media Sharing Gangbusters status. These words include: Skinny, Quick, Easy, No Bake, Only 3 Ingredients, You’ll Never Guess The Secret Ingredient! None of these phrases are the type to attract my attention on their own.
I like a recipe that takes time, uses fat and sugar, and I’m not scared of a long list of ingredients or complicated directions.
Sometimes, however, I do invent a recipe that inadvertently falls into one of those Gangbusters categories that people seem to like. This, for example, takes 15 minutes and zero baking. It also tastes amazing in a way that seems to contradict the short amount of time it took to make.
You can buy Dulce de Leche, or make it from scratch (here is a really great post on How to Make Dulce de Leche from a blogger I have a girl-crush on). It’s simple to make from scratch, but if that doesn’t fit your time schedule, or intimidates you, it’s fairly easy to find in markets.
I found myself in ownership of a batch of Dulce de Leche after spending a 100 degree day knee deep in Holiday Cheer while making and shooting Christmas Cocktails for the Holiday Issue of a print magazine. Nothing screams July like Brandied Hot Chocolate with Candy Cane Whipped Cream or Dulce de Leche Eggnog. Although I was incredibly grateful for the opportunity, I can’t say that I really wanted to consume hot buttered rum or mulled wine on triple digit summer day.
In a food processor add the graham crackers and brown sugar, process until reduced to fine crumbs.
While the food processor is running, add the melted butter, process until combined.
Add crust to a 9 inch spring form pan. Using a heavy, flat bottom glass, press very well into the sides and bottom of the pan (starting with the sides), make sure to press very well until the crust is very compacted into the sides and bottom of the pan.
Add the chocolate chips to a small bowl. Heat the stout until very hot (about 170 degrees), pour stout over the chocolate chips, stir until well combined and creamy. Allow to cool to room temperature.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 ½ cups heavy cream and ¼ cup powdered sugar, beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the cooled chocolate mixture into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the cream and chocolate has been combined an no white streaks or dark chocolate streaks remain. Pour into the crust. Place in the freezer while you work on the Dulce de Leche layer.
In the bowl of a stand mixer, add 1 cup heavy cream and 3 tablespoons powdered sugar. Beat on high until soft peaks form. While the mixer is running, slowly drizzle the Dulce de Leche into the mixer. Once it has all been added, turn off the mixer and gently stir until all of the Dulce de Leche and whipped cream have been combined.
Add the Dulce de Leche cream on top of the chocolate layer, smooth into an even layer.
Freeze until set, about 1 hour. Remove from freezer 10 minute prior to serving and allow to warm slightly before cutting. To remove from pan, run a sharp knife under very hot water, then run the knife between the crust and the side of the spring form pan to release.
Heat remaining Dulce de Leche and drizzle over slices prior to serving.
A bunch of years ago I was in Dublin, Ireland for the St. Patricks day celebrations. I had flown over from LA, with only two nights booked at the Brewery Hostel at the base of the Guinness brewery. The night of the festival I was without a room, all at once ecstatic to be in Dublin for the Merriment and panicked to be without a place to stay.
I had three options.
1. Through a friend of a friend twice removed, I was connected with an Irish man willing to take me in for the night.
2. I had met some lovely Australians who were working on renovating a flat in town, but it was completely empty of any furniture and the electricity and water were both shut off, but it was walls and a roof.
3. Wander the streets for the evening, falling in and out of pubs, until I pass out on the street with some of the more rowdy locals.
I hesitantly opted for option one. If you have ever been a young girl with a backpack and a guidebook in a foreign city, I don’t need to underscore the concerns I had with this set up. Lucky for me, this man was Irish to the core: friendly, hospitable and a perfect gentleman.
I spent most of the evening running around Dublin, from pub to pub, drinking the local beer (Guinness), probably offending the bartenders by tipping them (not a custom in Ireland, "Would you tip your doctor?!") and watching the locals swell with patriotic pride as fireworks burst over the River Liffey in the heart of Dublin.
All of this, the people who welcomed me in, the beer that warmed my soul, and the celebration that swirled around me, will always give me a deep love for Ireland and Her people.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the carrots, leeks and celery, sauté until the carrots start to soften.
Add the mushrooms and cook until softened and darkened, about 5 minutes (add additional olive oil if the pan starts to dry).
Add the peas, broth and stout. Bring to a simmer. Sprinkle with flour, stir to combine. Stir in the oregano, pepper and salt. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, remove from heat.
Divide evenly between 6 oven safe (12 to 14 ounce) serving bowls, sprinkle with crumbled goat cheese.
Roll out puff pastry on a lightly floured surface, cut into 6 equal squares.
Top each bowl with one square, press into shape.
Brush with melted butter, slice 3 to 4 small slits in the top of each bowl.
Maybe this isn’t Valentinesy in that "Heart Shaped Red Velvet Conversations Heart Aphrodisiac Cheesecake " sort of way, but it is a fun way to eat ice cream.
And really, who doesn’t need that in their lives? I’m at the very end of writing this book, that’s due to my publisher in just three weeks. I vacillate between sheer panic, absolute gratitude for this opportunity, and utter exhaustion. I’m not sure which I am most looking forward to: sleeping again, being a normal human, or the ability to refer to myself as a publisher author (!!!).
In other news, my husband deserves an award. And a lot of that Valentinesy type wifeish attention that I’ll have more mental capacity for once I’m a normal human again.
We are both looking forward to that.
In the meantime, here is a not-as-bad-for-you ice cream dish. Because when your bowl is half full of fruit, it’s pretty much like health food.
3 granny smith apples (granny smith hold their shape the best, other apples will likely get soggy, but still taste great).
Cinnamon & Brown sugar
1 sheet puff pastry, thawed
1 tbs butter, melted
6 scoops vanilla ice cream
Preheat oven to 375.
Cut the apples in half the wrong way (as in, the way that seems to be counter to all of your apple cutting instincts).
Use a mellon baller to remove most of the center, leaving about 1/2 inch of the walls in tact.
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, spray with cooking spray.
Sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon, rub in. (really, there isn’t a need to measure the amounts but if you are a "I MUST MEASURE!" person, count on about 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp brown sugar per apple half. But really, just sprinkle, you’ll do fine.)
Place apples, cut side down, on the baking sheet.
Roll out the puff pastry on a lightly floured surface. Cut into six equal sized squares.
Cover each apples with puff pastry and roll the excess pastry around the apples to resemble a pie crust.
Brush with melted butter and cut two or three small slits with a sharp knife.
Bake at 375 until puff pastry has turned golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes.
Fill with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Now, if you are a civilized human, you can go at this with a knife and fork. But if you’re me, you’ll pick it up and eat it like the ice cream filled Apple Pie Taco is was born to be. (*The second option is way better, but you’ll need napkins)
Just about 18 hours prior to Turkey Tip-Off, my small gathering of 4 people more than tripled into a 14 person party that ended in cocktails, poker, and eating pie right out of the pan. How great is that?
I was happy with the idea of a small gathering, sometimes those can be the best nights. But the fact that I have such an over abundance of food in my kitchen right now and dozens of recipes to be cooked and tested, I could not have been happier about the influx of last minute hungry visitors.
And a Thanksgiving that morphed into a Poker Night, complete with impromptu costuming and teaching my friends 8-year-old how to bluff, was one of the best Thanksgivings I have ever had. Although I was seriously caffeine deficient the next day, and zero percent productive.
I may, or may not, have consume an entire bottle of wine by myself.
I used a chocolate porter for this recipe, and of course, a stout would work well also. BUT now that I sit here staring at these photos, I wish I’d have used something that had been aged in bourbon barrels. How great would that be?
In a food processor, add 1 cup of flour (reserving the other ½ cup) salt, sugar and pulse to combine. Add the butter cubes and the shortening, process until combined. Add the remaining ½ cup of flour, process until well incorporated.
Transfer to a bowl, add the beer and mix until combined. Dough will be very soft. Form into a wide flat disk, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.
Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface, transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie pan, press into shape. Remove the excess. Freeze crust for 20 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350.
In a pot over medium high heat, add the beer, brown sugar and corn syrup. Allow to simmer until combined and the sugar has melted. Sprinkle with flour, whisk until well combined. Remove from heat, add pecans, heavy cream and butter. Stir until well combined and the butter has melted. Allow to cool to room temperature before adding the eggs. In a separate bowl, whisk together the eggs. Slowly add the pecan mixture to the eggs, whisking the eggs the entire time.
Pour filling into crust, bake at 350 for 50 minute to an hour or until the filling no longer jiggles when you shake the rack it sits on. Chill until the filling has set, about 2 hours.
*Note: This recipe is for a deep-dish pie pan. The filling is too much for a regular pie pan.
Sometimes you make a mistake and it ends up being a really great thing. I wish I had a wise true life story about a mistake gone right, but I don’t. Not at the moment.
But this pie is a mistake gone right. I was trying to make chocolate whipped cream, but I wanted something more intense than cocoa powder. So I tried to melt some chocolate in heavey cream, and then chill it.
When I came back the next day, and it was one solid mass. The I tried to whip it (Into shape!) and it turned into this creamy non-whipped cream type of dense mousse. So I made a crust for it and a chocolate raspberry topping and it’s now a pie. Or it was a pie until I ate it.
It’s not a propper mousse, its a working-mom-still-wants-to-cook-from-scratch type of mousse.
I like it.
Super easy, fancy, still made from scratch, and impressive. Win, Win, Win.
Easy Chocolate Raspberry Mousse Pie
Filling:
2 cups heavy cream
2 3oz bars of semi-sweet chocolate
Crust:
2 cups chocolate wafer cookies (or chocolate teddy grahams or chocolate graham crackers)
1 stick unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tbs brown sugar
Topping:
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2oz 60% dark chocolate
1/3 cup sugar
In a large pot, add the cream and the chocolate. Stir over medium-low heat until all of the chocolate has melted and it resembles chocolate milk. Add to the bowl of a stand mixer and place the bowl in the refrigerator. Cover and chill until set, at least 6 hours. Filling can be made up to 2 days ahead of time.
Pre-heat oven to 350.
Put the chocolate wafer cookies, or chocolate graham crackers (NOT chocolate covered) into a food processor and process until crumbled. Add the sugars and the butter and process until it looks like wet sand. Add a bit more butter if it’s too dry. Press into a 9 inch pie pan. Press hard, using a measuring cup, a flat bottom coffee cup or anything you can to make sure and pack it into the pan really well. This will keep it from crumbling when you cut it into slices.
Bake for 10 minutes at 350 or until firm. Allow to cool.
Place the bowl of chilled chocolate cream on to the stand mixer and beat on high for 3-5 minutes or until fluffy. At this point, you can taste to see if you want it sweeter. I tend to favor less sweet desserts, and if you like yours supper sweet, add 1/4 cup sugar and beat until its incorporated into the mousse.
Add the chocolate mousse to the pie crust and spread out evenly, place in the fridge to chill.
In a pot over medium-high heat, add the topping ingredients. Stir until the raspberries and chocolate has melted, the raspberries have broken down, and the mixture has thickened. This will take longer if you are using frozen raspberries because the water content is higher. About 8-12 minutes. Pour the mixture over the mousse and chill until set, about 30 minutes.
I’ve already told you all about my deep love for weekend breakfasts. But maybe I haven’t told you why.
I have this amazing husband, that I sometimes think loves me more that I deserve. And I always worry that I’m going to fall off this pedestal he’s placed me on.
And I have this daughter that is already cooler and more spectacular than I will ever be. I know I’ll always be proud of her, but I worry about her being proud of me.
And I have to leave her 5 days a week and go to an office. And help people.
And I worry. About being a good mom. About all the insane things that could happen to Tater, because it happened once to someone, somewhere, one time, 12 years ago.
I worry that I spend too much time away from her. Is she happy enough? Am I doing the right thing by working? Would I lose all sanity if I was a real life Stay At Home Mom? I want her to have all the things that I didn’t, but one of those things is lots of one on one time…
Being a mom is so hard. No matter what your situation.
And even though these scary thoughts consume my drive to and from work, and sometimes make me cry, I always know that I can count on weekend breakfast. I know that no matter what else made me feel like a failure during the rest of the week, I can feel like I did something right.
I cooked yummy food for my little family. We ate it together. And we all smiled. For a small window of my week, we were perfect…. except when Tater put eggs in her Big Girl cup, and threw toast on the ground, and cried because I was taking too long to get it all to the table, and she fed Sophia raisins that could make dogs sick…OK, perfect doesn’t exist when you are a human and being a mom makes you see that gap as a huge chasm that you will never even make it half way across. But weekend breakfast makes it feel smaller.
I know that when I get old, I won’t remember the lack of sleep. The long commutes on LA freeways. The tantrums that drive me to a crazy place. But I will remember that smiling face. The family breakfast. Even though I have less patience than I want to have, and the thought of all the responsibility that goes along with parenting makes me so overwhelmed…. I still believe that theses really are "the good 'ole days." At least that’s how I will remember them. When I live to be 100.
Pecan Pie French Toast
(Will make you feel a little bit closer to perfect.
To be made during those weeks when you need to know that you did at least one thing right)
For the Filling/Topping
1 stick of butter
1 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (like Karo)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
2 lightly beaten eggs
For the Toast:
8 slices of thick cut bread
3 eggs
2 cups of milk
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 tbs sugar
Preheat oven to 400.
In a large sauce pan over medium high heat, combine butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, allow to boil for about 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in the pecans and vanilla and allow to cool to about room temp.
In a large bowl, combine the 3 eggs, milk, 1 tsp vanilla, salt, and sugar and whisk to combine. One at a time, soak each slice of bread for about 30 seconds. Add to a hot pan over medium-high heat, coated with non-stick cooking spray. Cook on each side for about 2-4 minutes or until golden brown. Transfer to a baking sheet, sprayed with non stick cooking spray (slices will be stacked, two slices high, so you only need a baking sheet big enough for 4 slices.) Repeat for all slices.
In a small bowl, beat the 2 eggs until combined. Add to your cooled pecan mixture and stir until well combined (if the pecan mixture is too hot, you will make scrambled eggs, make sure it’s room temp). Return to heat and allow to boil, stirring frequently, for 2-5 minutes or until thickened. Allow to cool a bit.
On one slice of bread, add about 2-4 tbs of the pecan mixture to the center. Top with another slice of toast. Repeat until you have 4 "sandwiches " of pecan pie stuffed french toast on a baking sheet.
Bake in a 400 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.
Add to a plate and top each serving with 2-4 tbs of the remaining pecan mixture.
Enjoy.
Give yourself a break, you are a good human. You made a great breakfast, the rest of the world can wait.
I just realized the perfection of Chicken Pot Pie. Like a creamy soup, with any veggies you want and a beautiful homemade crust on top. I can tell you for sure: This will not be my last pot pie post of the fall.
I used another Kerrygold cheese. There are at least two reasons that I love Kerrygold. First, I will always have a place in my heat for Ireland, and Irish people. The first real trip I ever took was to Ireland. I was just out of college and had spend the past 6 months working two jobs, and finishing up my classes, just to buy a plane ticket to Europe and enough money to see me though a few weeks. I landed in Ireland on a drizzely morning, jet lagged and confused. I had no idea where to go, or how to get there. Before I really knew what was happening, I was being dragged though the streets of Dublin by a charming Irishman who was taking me to a youth hostel at the foot of the Guinness brewery. With a smile and a cheerful welcome, he was on his way, leaving me to realized that this kind stranger had walked at least a mile in the wrong direction just to make sure I found a bed for the evening.
OK, so that really has nothing to do with the cheese, but I was able to meet quite a few Irish people and fall in love with them. And Kerrygold is more of a co-op than a corporation and relies on independent Irish dairy farms to source their produces. Second (third?) if you look at the ingredients they are beautifully simple. Milk, cream, salt, all things that I know and can pronounce.
I used Red Leicester, which is a beautiful mild cheddar. Reminds me of the people I met in Ireland, beautiful, honest, full of flavor.
Mushroom Cheddar Chicken Pot Pie
For the Crust:
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
5 tbs butter cold, cut into cubes
1/4 cup shortening
2 tbs vodka
2 tbs cold water
For the Filling:
1 tbs olive oil
½ cup sliced leeks (white and very light green portion only)
3 large cloves garlic, minced
3 cups mushrooms, chopped
3 cups raw chicken, cut into small cubes
2/3 cup broth, plus additional 1 1/3 cup, divided
¼ cup flour
½ cup corn kernels
½ cup peas
2 cups shredded cheddar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
¼ cup melted butter
1. Combine 1 cups of flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor, pulse a few times until its combined. Add the butter and the shortening and process until it forms a ball around the blade, about 2 minutes.
2. Add the remaining flour and process until well incorporated, about 1 minute.
3. Move to a bowl and add the water and the vodka, combine with a spatula or wooden spoon.
4. Form the dough into a disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and chill until very firm, about two hours.
5. Preheat oven to 400.
6. In a pan over medium, high heat, add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the leeks and the garlic, sauté until leeks are soft.
7. Add the mushrooms and cook until soft and darkened.
8. Add the chicken and sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
9. In a separate bowl, add 2/3 cup of broth and the flour, stir until combined. Pour mixture into the pan through a small mesh strainer to remove any lumps.
10. Add the remaining broth to the pan and stir to combine. Add the peas, corn, cheese, salt and pepper. Stir until the cheese has melted and is well combined with the broth.
12. Pour into small, portion sized, oven safe ceramic dishes. Makes about 4.
13. Once the dough has chilled, place disk on a very well floured surface, add flour to the top of the disk as well. Roll out into an even thickness.
14. Cut out circles that will cover the dishes with at least a one inch overhang on each side.
15. To prevent sticking, spray the rim of the baking dish with cooking spray.
16. Top each dish with the dough circle, cutting a slit to vent at the top. Then brush the dough with melted butter.
17. Bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Allow to cool a bit before serving.
I wrote another article for Honest Cooking. I wrote about this deep dish pie, because I love it so much. The crust is the best part, and making it deep dish adds more of the good stuff, oh, and the filling too. Also, deep dish pies are really impressive. They stand on their own, outside of a pie pan and look like a baked-goods force to be reckoned with. Next time you make a pie from scratch, forget the pie pan and reach for your spring form pan.
Once your pie dough is completed, chilled and ready to go, roll out one disk (about half of the total recipe) so that it will sit in your spring form pan with about a 1 inch overhang. Fold in half, then in half again to form a triangle. Gently move to the pan with the point of the triangle in the dead center.
Unfold and smooth any rips or tears with your fingers. Set in the fridge to chill until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 375.
In a separate bowl, add the flour, cornstarch, salt, and sugar, then whisk to combine.
Add the peaches and raspberries and toss to coat.
Add the fruit to the spring form pan that is now lined with pie dough. Roll out your remaining dough and place it on the top of the pie, using the same method to move as you did with your bottom dough layer. Using your fingers, squeeze the top and bottom layers of the crust together around the edge of the pan. Make a few slits in the top of the pie dough to release steam. If you want to cut out a shape, as shown below, do so prior to moving your dough.
Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes or until the top is a golden brown.
Somehow, in the course of my very rushed Deep Dish photo shoot, my peach slices went missing.
I’m not entirely sure who’s belly they ended up in, but either way, a pretty healthy snack.
There is a distinct possibility that I am the only person I know that has a problem with left over pie dough. I make pies much more than the average girl, and I always make my crust from scratch. You should too. Really. The only problem is that I always have hunks of dough left over, but I’m never short.
This recipe is meant for those left over scraps that you always have after making pie. You sit there, looking at a heap of dough that you "slaved" over. You feel a brief twinge of guilt about throwing it in the trash, but with a lack of use for 1/2 cup of pie dough, that’s were it ends up.
Look how economical and thrifty we are.
A use for leftover pie dough and a cute portable snack.
Perfect for little hands. Or big ones.
Chocolate Pie Sticks
Use leftover pie dough
If you don’t have it and want to just make these for the fun of it, here is my pie dough recipe:
Pie Dough:
1 cups of all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbs sugar
3 1/2 tbs butter, cut into cubes
2 1/2 tbs shortening
2 tbs vodka
1 tbs cold water
Chocolate chips (not sure how many you’ll need because that depends on how much leftover dough you have)
1 egg
sugar (about 2 tbs?)
If you have your leftover pie dough ready, skip this next paragraph.
If you are making dough:
Break out that food processor and add the flour, salt and sugar and give it a quick pulse until it’s combined.
Add the cubes of butter and the shortening and pulse until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes.
Move the dough to a bowl and add the vodka and water with a spatula. Your dough will be very moist, but you can add a bit of flour if it is too moist to hold together. Then shape the dough into a disk, cover in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours. If you need to, this can be made up to three days in advance, just store the plastic wrapped disks in a large zip lock bag.
Once you have your dough ready:
Roll out the dough, just like for a pie, and cut into strips about 1 inch wide and six inches long.
Brush each strip with water, and fill with a row of chocolate chips
Cover each chipped strip with another strip and seal the edges.
Poke holes in the top to let the steam out.
Brush with a lightly beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
Put on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper (or sprayed with butter cooking spray)
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until goldeny brown.
Look how cute Tater is with her pie stick. Yes, I give my kid pie. And fruits and vegetables and chicken. And pie and cupcakes.
S’mores are great, right? Evoking memories of summer, campfires and near misses with open flames. Those little treats have been popping up in Blog Land all summer. I even had my little fling with a s’mores makeover. Caramel apples are the new s’mores. Really. I swear. As fall gets closer, and apples pop up more and more in stores, farmers markets and bloggers imaginations, the memories of school carnivals and Halloween parties will throw this sugary fruit treat into the baker makeover spot light. Here is my jump start on caramel apple makeover, falls new, hot, must have.
Caramel Apple Pie
Pie Dough:
3 cups of all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbs sugar
10 tbs butter (1 stick, plus 2 tbs), cut into cubes
1/2 cup shortening
1/4 cup vodka
1/4 cup cold water
Apple Filling:
5 cups of granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbs flour
1 tbs cinnamon
1 tsp fresh grated nutmeg
2 tbs apple sauce
Caramel Filling:
1 cups brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup of cream
1 tbs butter
1 tbs corn syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
Crust assembly:
1/4 cup melted butter
2 tbs granulated sugar
I’ve done this before and I’m about to do it again. Pie dough lecture. After my years of pie dough research, I feel confident that this recipe is near perfect. I love it. If you are thinking about skipping this step and going with store bought, Stop. Right. There. The food processor method makes your active time about 8 minutes. That’s it. For an investment of only 8 minutes you can make the Worlds Most Amazing Pie Crust and when people ask, "Did you make the crust yourself??" You can sigh, wipe your brow and say, "It was a lot of work, but, yes. I just believe that it is worth all the hard work." They’ll never know.
First, food processors are great at getting the job done as quickly as possible, and as previously mentioned on this blog, the more you mess with dough the tougher it becomes. So break out that food processor and add 2 cups of the flour, salt and sugar and give it a quick pulse until it’s combined.
Add the cubes of butter and the shortening and pulse until combined, about 1 1/2 minutes. A mixture of butter and shortening gives great texture and great flavor.
Add the remaining flour and process until it’s all combined. Move dough to a large bowl, then add the water and the vodka and knead gently until its all combined. Vodka makes your crust flaky. It cooks off completely, unlike water, so you have a great flakiness that will hold up to whatever you put inside of it. Your dough will be very moist, but you can add a bit of flour if it is too moist to hold together. Then split into two evenly sized disks and wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for at least 2 hours. If you need to, this can be made up to three days in advance, just store the plastic wrapped disks in a large zip lock bag.
Preheat your oven to 375.
In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice and salt, toss to coat. Let stand at room temp for about 30 minutes, drain. Add the sugar, flour, cinnamon, apple sauce and nutmeg and toss to coat.
In a pot over medium heat, add the brown sugar, corn syrup and cream. Stir until the sugar is dissolved and allow to boil, untouched, until it reaches 225. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla, stir to combine and allow to cool.
Roll out one of your pie dough disks in a circle large enough to fit into your greased pie pan with a bit of over hang. Add the circle to the pie pan and press into shape. Pour the caramel on the bottom, then the apples on top of that. Roll out the remaining pie dough circle. I like to cut out cute shapes with a cookie cutter and layer them on top, adhering with melted butter. You can do this, or you can make a top crust a round circle with slits cut in the top. brush the top with the remaining melted butter and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 375 for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Allow the pie to rest before serving, the caramel needs time to thicken or your will be serving apple pie soup.
