Lemon Meringue Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Lemon Meringue Pie

This Lemon Meringue pie is quite easy to make and very tasty. It was almost gone before I got a chance to try it for myself.



Recipe Pie Dough:

I used the same recipe I used for the Pumpkin Pie. You need to bake
the pie crust before you start putting the filling in it. Poke holes all the way through and around the pie crust with a fork to keep it from rising while it cooks. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes until light brown.

Recipe Lemon Filling:

• 1 4.3 oz. box Lemon Flavor Jello Cook and Serve
  
• 3 cups Water, divided
  
• 3 Eggs, separated
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
  

Mix sugar, 1/2 cups water, egg yolks, and lemon pudding mixture together. Stir in 2-1/2 cups water. Bring to a full boil over medium heat. Cool completely and pour into the baked pie crust.

Recipe Meringue:

• 3 Egg Whites (from the 3 separated eggs you used in the Lemon Filling)
  
• 1/3 cups Sugar
  

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat the egg whites until foamy. Gradually beat in sugar until stiff peaks foam. Spread the egg whites over the lemon filling. Place in oven and bake 15 to 20 minutes until the meringue is lightly browned. Cool pie and serve.

Baking Tips:

• Make sure the lemon filling is completely cool before you put it into the pie crust. Otherwise your pie crust will become soggy.
  

Corn Fritters

Category: Pastry > Savory > Corn Fritter

Fritters come in many varieties. Sweet or savory, you can mix a bunch of different things into the batter. Apples, for a sweet fritter, are often popular. I liken fritters to a fried pancakes. When I was growing up, corn fritters were a special breakfast treat served on Christmas morning and other holidays.



Recipe:

• 1 cup Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 tsp. Sugar
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1/2 Milk
  
• 1 tsp. Vegetable Oil
  
• 1/2 cup Corn
  

Mix flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar together. Add eggs, milk, and vegetable oil. Mix until smooth. Mix in corn. Heat about 3 inches of oil in a deep skillet to 375 degrees. Drop small pancake size batter into oil. Fry about 5 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.

Baking Tips:

• If your oil doesn't cover your fritter in the pan, you can flip it over half way through the cooking time. Just be careful when flipping in hot oil.
  
• As you finish cooking the fritters, you can place them in an oven set to warm until you are finished cooking them all.
  
• You can half the recipe if you don't want to make as many fritters.
  

Checkerboard Cake

Categories: Cakes > Butter > Checkerboard Cake

At its core, a checkerboard cake is nothing but a cake, that when sliced into, resembles a checkerboard. It is nice for the wow factor, plus, if you have someone who can't decide which, between two types of cakes, to have - why not have them both with a checkerboard cake!



There are several different ways to make a checkerboard cake. The most common method is with a checkerboard cake pan set. This set includes 3 round cake pans and a plastic insert divided into 3 rings. You pipe alternating cake mix flavors or colors into the rings, remove the insert, and repeat with the next pan. However if you piped white, chocolate, white in the first pan, you would pipe chocolate, white, chocolate in the next. Keep in mind that you need thick batter so it doesn't start to bleed over when you remove the insert.

A second method of making a checkerboard cake is just like the first except you make a make-shift insert with cardboard covered in plastic wrap or contact paper. You can also make an insert for a square pan.

Another method involves simply piping the batter into a pan without an insert. With this method you will not get as straight a line but will work for the general effect. If you are looking for something a little wacky, this method works well.

The last method involves cutting two different colored or flavor cakes up and piecemealing them back together. This method is easier for square cakes than circles but still works well. If you cut you pieces with exact measurements, they should fix together almost like a glove. This is the method I used.

Recipe:

• 1 Chocolate Cake Mix
  
• 1 Yellow Cake Mix
  

For Chocolate Buttercream Icing:

• 1 cup Shortening
  
• 1 pound Powdered Sugar
  
• 3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
  
• 8 to 9 tbsp Water
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 tbsp. Meringue Powder
  
• 
  

Follow the baking instructions on the cake mix box and bake each batch in 2 circle cake pan. Let the cakes cool. You should have 4 cakes when you are finished.

While the cakes are cooling, you can make the chocolate buttercream icing. Cream together shortening, water, and vanilla. Slowly add the rest of the ingredients and mix together on medium until thoroughly combined. If you want, you can add a pinch of salt, dissolved in the water, to cut some of the sweetness down.

To Assemble:

Measure the shortest height of all the 4 cakes. Level all four cakes to be that height. Stack one white and one chocolate cake together. Make sure the cake with the biggest circumference is on the bottom. Make sure the cake on the top is centered on the cake on the bottom.

It is best to cut rings out with the two cakes stacked together. That way you know your rings will be the same size and will fix back together tightly. With a serrated knife, cut at least 3 rings out with about a 2" width. You can cut out more rings if you would like but the smaller your rings are in width, the harder it is to cut them.

Once you have the rings cut out, reassemble them in alternating colors like shown below.



Once you have assembled the cakes, you will want to stack them 1, 2, 1, 2 with a thin layer of chocolate buttercream icing between each layer to make them stick. Use the remaining icing to frost the cake. You can decorate it however you would like. I chose to cover with white and bittersweet chocolate chips in a checkerboard pattern.

Pumpkin Pie

Categories: Pies > Sweet > Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is my favorite pie, but you know, I have yet to find a recipe that I like. You see, there is this chain fast food BBQ restaurant that has the best seasonal Pumpkin Pie and I am searching for a recipe that tastes like it. Sadly, this recipe was not it. However, since it wasn't terrible, I'll post the recipe here. Also, the crust for the pie was made from scratch.




Combination Vegetable Shortening & Butter Pastry - Pie Crust Recipe:

• 2-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 1 tsp. Salt
  
• 1 tbsp. Sugar
  
• 1/2 cup chilled Vegetable Shortening
  
• 1/2 cup Unsalted Butter, cut into 1/4" pieces
  
• 6 to 8 tbsp. Ice Water
  

Thoroughly combine flour, salt, and sugar. Add the vegetable shortening mix with a pastry blender. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture and mix with pastry blender until butter bits are no larger than small peas.

Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. Using a rubber spatula, fold to mix. Press down on the dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 2 tablespoons more water if the dough does not come together.

Divide the dough into two balls and flatten each into a 4-inch dish. Wrap both separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling. On a lightly floured surface, form pastry into a ball; shape into a flattened round. Roll pastry 2 inches larger than an inverted pie plate with a floured rolling pin. Fold pastry into quarter folds and ease into pie pan. Unfold and press it firmly against the bottom and side of the pan.

Pumpkin Pie Recipe:

• 15 oz. (1 can) Pumpkin
  
• 3/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp. Ground Ginger
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 14 oz. Sweetened Condensed Milk
  
• 2 Eggs, Slightly Beaten
  

Preheat oven at 425 degrees. Mix pumpkin and spices together. Add remaining ingredients. Mix slowly just until thoroughly combined. Pour into pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes and then reduce heat to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35 to 40 minutes. Thoroughly cool pie before serving.

Baking Tips:

• Make sure not to pull and stretch your pie dough when rolling it. If you do, the crust will shrink when you bake it.
  
• You can add 1/2 tsp. Nutmeg to the pie if you want.
  

Apple Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Apple Pie

Always popular is the Apple Pie. This apple pie isn't made from scratch so it only takes about 10 minutes to put together. Fast and simply. I'll add a homemade Apple Pie recipe from scratch later.



Recipe:

• 2 cans Apple Filling
  
• 2 Pie Doughs
  
• Sugar
  

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Unroll one of the pie doughs into a 8" to 9" pie pan. Gently press pie dough down so it molds to the pie pan. Spoon the apple filling into the pie pan. Unroll the second pie dough and cut it into 1/2" strips. Place strips on top of the pie in a lattice pattern. Fold the dough that hangs over from the bottom pie dough over the lattice design on the top sides of the pie. Use a fork to crimp the pie crust around the side. Sprinkle sugar over the dough on top of the pie. Cook pie for about 35 minutes until pie crust is a nice golden color.

Tips:

• Wrap the sides of the pie crust in Aluminum Foil to keep it from getting too brown while the pie is baking. 10 minutes before the pie should be finished, remove the foil so it can get a nice brown color.
  

Funnel Cake

Category: Cookies > Other Others > Fried Cookies > Funnel Cake

When I started on my baking journey, I took requests from my family. Funnel cake was on the top of the request list and they didn't stop asking until I got around to making it.

Even though it is called a funnel cake, it is actually classified as a fried cookie.



Recipe:

• 2-1/2 to 3-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 1/4 cup Sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
  
• 2 cups Milk
  
• Powdered Sugar for dusting
  

You will need a funnel large enough to hold a cup of batter and a deep fryer or heavy skillet.

Sift 1-1/2 cups of the flour and the baking powder together. Mix the eggs, sugar, salt, and milk together. Add the flour and baking powder mixture and stir until smooth. Stir in more of the remaining flour until you have achieved the desired consistency—a batter thin enough to run through a funnel, but thicker than pancake batter.

In a deep fryer or heavy skillet, heat the oil to 375 degrees. Place you finger over the hole in the bottom of the funnel and add 1/2 cup batter. Hold the funnel close to the oil, remove your finger, and release the batter into the hot oil while making a circular motion. Fry until golden brown. Remove the cake and place it on paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with powdered sugar.