Blueberry Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Blueberry Pie

Baking this pie, there was nothing special. It was some store brought pie crust dough and canned blueberries. I was a little worried about how the blueberries would taste, but they turned out quite good. The only problem was, the pie didn't set. When I cut into it, blueberries went everywhere. Anyone have any tips on how to get a blueberry pie to set so you can cut it nice? Maybe partially freezing it before cutting it?

I really like the pie crust lattice cutter designs. So I purchases a double sided one that has leaves on one side and apples on the other. I was really disappointed in how it worked. Of course, I think I'll get better with time. You can't see through the cutter so it is hard to tell if you have cut all the way through the dough or not. Turns out I didn't. And, since you can't see through the cutter, there was no way for me to press it down to cut again.

I ended up cutting the cut outs with a toothpick. Then, the dough was really flimsy went I put it on the pie and hard to center. So, it turned out distorted as you can see in the picture.



I wanted to cut the pie up and put them in individual boxes for my father to take to work. But that would have been impossible with the way the pie cut. I would have given him the pie to take in in the pan, but I cut out a piece to try (I always test new things to make sure they taste okay). I didn't want to send a pie with a piece missing. So, the pie stayed home.

My mini-tart pans came the other day in the mail. I am thinking about making mini blueberry tarts for him to take in instead.

No Bake - Key Lime Pie

Category: Pies > Sweet > Key Lime Pie

What are Key Limes? Well, they are just a specific variety of lime. This is a no bake key lime pie which can be whipped together in minutes. Taste-wise I think this key lime pie is only average, but if you are in a hurry for a dessert it works.



Recipe:

• 2 cans Key Lime Pie Filling
  
• 1 bag Graham Crackers
  
• 1/4 cups Sugar
  
• 1/3 cups Butter, melted
  

For Graham cracker crust: Crush graham crackers in a blender until very fine. Mix sugar in with the graham cracker crumbs. Pour into pie pan and then add melted butter. Mix until the mixture starts to combine and then press into the bottom and sides of the pie pan. Pour Key Lime pie filling into the crust. Best served chilled by refrigerating for 4 hours.

Baking Tips:

• You get best results if you let your graham cracker crust sit in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before you fill it.
  
• Don't press your graham cracker crust too hard to the pie pan. Doing so can make it hard to get out of the pan when you slice the pie.
  

Apple Crisp

Category: Pastry > Sweet > Crisp

A crisp is like a crust-less pie. Apple crisp is one of the most common types of crisps. It is good served warm or cold (and with ice cream!).

Not all apples are made equal. Some are made for eating raw and some are made for baking. When you get ready to bake apples, like for a pie or crisp, make sure you get a good baking apple. Some good apples for baking include: Cortland, Empire, Mutsu (Crispin), Golden Delicious, Granny Smiths, Jonagold.

For this apple crisp, I used 7 Jonagold apples.

• 1-1/2 cups Flour
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 1/3 cup Brown Sugar
  
• 3/4 tsp. Ground Cinnamon
  
• 1/4 tsp. Salt
  
• 2/3 cup Unsalted Butter, cut in pieces
  
• 8 cups Peeled Apples, sliced 1/2" thick
  
• 2 tbsp. Lemon Juice
  
• 1/4 to 1/3 cups Sugar
  
• 1 tbsp. Flour
  
• 1/4 Salt
  
• 1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
  

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp. salt. With your fingers or pastry blender work in butter until mixture starts to cling together.

In a second large bowl, toss together apples in the lemon juice. In a small bowl, combine 1/4 to 1/3 cups sugar, 1 tbsp. flour, 1/4 salt, and nutmeg. If your apples are sweet you will want to use the lesser amount of sugar. Sprinkle apples with the sugar-nutmeg mixture. Place apples in a 2-quart baking dish. Cover the apples with the crumb mixture.

Cover the crisp with parchment paper and then with aluminum foil. Place covered apple crisp on a foil lined cookie sheet. Place in oven and bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment paper and the aluminum foil from the top of crisp and bake for another 30 to 40 minutes until top is golden and apples are tender. Let cool 15 to 30 minutes before serving.

Apple crisps go well with ice cream, custard, or whipped cream.

Black Tie Mousse Cake

Category: Pies > Sweet > Black Tie Mousse Cake

If I was to say what my all time favorite dessert is, it would be the Black Tie Mousse Cake from Olive Garden. I feel bad for people who don't have Olive Gardens to eat from. In my opinion, Olive Garden has some of the best desserts around.

Black Tie Mousse Cake is a multilayer dessert. The bottom layer is chocolate cake, then you have a chocolate cheesecake, followed by an Italian Cheese Custard, topped with a dark chocolate ganache. The sides of the cake are covered with chocolate chips and the top is decorated with chocolate mousse. Needless to say, this is a very rich dessert - which is right up my alley. Yum!

I stumbled across this copycat recipe and decided to give it a whirl. I couldn't have been more happy with the recipe. I don't really have much to add to the recipe except a few tips to help you put it all together.





The original recipe can be found at: Meemo's Kitchen

Recipe:

Layer 1 Chocolate cake "crust":

• 1/2 cup Butter, softened
  
• 1 cup Sugar
  
• 3 Eggs
  
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1/3 cup Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa
  
• 1/2 cup Flour
  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease bottom only of a 9" springform pan. In a medium bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating well after each addition; add vanilla and mix well. Add flour and cocoa and mix well to combine. Batter will be stiff. Spread in pan. Set aside.

If you don't have or can't find Dutch Processed Baking Cocoa, regular cocoa will work.

Layer 2 Baked Chocolate Cheesecake:

• 8 oz. Cream Cheese, softened
  
• 1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
  
• 3/4 cup Sugar
  
• 1 oz. Unsweetened Chocolate, melted and cooled
  
• 2 Eggs
  
• 1 tbsp. Flour
  

In a large bowl, cream the cream cheese and ricotta with the sugar until smooth. Add a small amount of the cheese mixture to the melted chocolate and combine well (this is called tempering). Once the little bit of cheese mixture and chocolate are mixed well, add it back to the rest of the cheese mixture and beat until well combined. Add eggs and flour and beat well. Smooth over top of cake batter in pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until cheesecake is set in center. Cover with foil during last 10 minutes to prevent over browning. Remove from oven and cool.

A cheesecake is not like a regular cake. It is considered set when the center is still wobbly. After you chill the cheesecake, it will set without wobbling. At this point let the cake cool. Once it is cool, you need to chill the cake for an hour or two.

Layer 3 Italian Mousse:

• 3/4 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 12 oz. Marscapone or Cream Cheese, softened (or 6 oz. of each)
  
• 1/4 cups Sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp. Vanilla
  
• 1 tbsp. Cold Water
  
• 1 tbsp. Boiling Water
  
• 1 tsp. Unflavored Gelatin
  

Once your chocolate and cheesecake base has been chilled, you can start making the third layer.

Beat the heavy whipping cream until stiff, set aside. In separate bowl, beat cheeses with sugar and vanilla until smooth. Fold in and combine with the whipping cream. In a small bowl, soften gelatin in cold water for about 1 minute. Pour boiling water over gelatin and stir to dissolve gelatin. Add just a touch of the cream/cheese mixture into the gelatin and stir. Cool five minutes. Fold the gelatin into cheese mixture until just combined. Spread mixture over baked cheesecake layer and chill well (freezing the cake at this point works well and makes spreading the final layer easier). Make sure you chill for several hours to make sure all the layers are set.

Layer 4 Dark Chocolate/White Chocolate Ganache:

• 10 oz. Dark Chocolate or Semi-Sweet Chocolate
  
• 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 2 tbsp. Butter
  
• 1/4 cup White Chocolate Chips
  
• 1-1/2 cups Mini Chocolate Chips
  

Place dark chocolate, chopped, in a large bowl. Heat cream and butter over low heat until just boiling. Reserve 2 tbsp. cream mixture. Pour cream mixture over chocolate and let set about 2 minutes, or until it begins to melt. Stir to combine. Repeat for white chips using reserved cream mixture. Let cool slightly until spreading consistency.

Using a sharp knife gently run blade around edge of cake to loosen. Remove cake sides from pan and place bottom with cake on serving plate or stand. Spread frosting over top and sides.

Drizzle white chocolate lightly over top. Using a knife or toothpick run it lightly over top to swirl to create desired effect. At this point, I would place the white chocolate ganache in a pastry bag and use a small round tip to decorate the top of the cake instead of trying to just drizzle it on top. You have more control.

Press mini chips (regular size works too) into frosting on sides until completely coated to create a "crust". Place cake to chill while preparing the final frosting.

Mousse Frosting:

• 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream
  
• 1/4 cups Powdered Sugar
  
• 1/8 cups Baking Cocoa
  
• 1/8 tsp. Vanilla
  

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl and whip until stiff peaks form. Place mousse mixture into pastry bag and use a large star tip to pipe generously around cake top edge and center.

Chill the cake well and serve. Serves 12-16.

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.
  

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.