Pumpkin S'mores Pie

Tonight I made a Pumpkin S'mores Pie.  It was amazing.  All of the flavors really came together.  It was both pumpkiny and s'moresy, but not overwhelmingly one or the other.  Having come up with the recipe on my own, I am very proud of this pie as it is quite possibly the best pie I have ever made.  If the American Pie Council has a Pumpkin Pie Contest at the Illinois State Fair again this year, I may enter it.

Crust:
1 package cinnamon graham crackers (9 crackers)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
7 tablespoons melted butter
Pulse together in a food processor, press firmly into pie plate, bake at 350 degrees for 5 minutes.

Chocolate:
5 ounces dark chocolate
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
2 tablespoons of light corn syrup
Melt chocolate and cream together, stir in corn syrup, and pour into slightly cooled crust.

Pumpkin:
1 1/2 cups of canned ILLINOIS pumpkin
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Mix together, pour over chocolate into crust, bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then at 350 degrees for another 40 minutes.  Let cool, then refrigerate for 2 hours.

Meringue:
3 eggs whites
1/3 cup of sugar
pinch of salt
7 ounces of marshmallow creme
Beat egg whites, sugar and salt to stiff peaks.  Stir 1/3 into marshmallow creme, then fold in the other 2/3.  Spoon onto pie and use a kitchen torch to "toast" the meringue.

If you enjoy this pie as much as I do, and you live in Illinois, go here to sign a petition to make Pumpkin Pie the Illinois State Pie.

Piece out!

Justin

Raspberry Amandine Pie

This pie was inspired by a recipe in Eric Lanlard's Tart It Up!  The original recipe used blueberries and was for 4 four-inch mini-tarts.  Blueberries are still really expensive, so I turned to raspberries.  I also wanted to try it as a full pie.

I should have remembered from making mini-tarts for Thanksgiving that the filling for 4 mini-tarts is not enough to make a nine-inch pie.  The almond meal filling was not enough to cover the raspberries entirely.  In order to have them covered entirely, to resemble an actual amandine tart, the recipe needs to be as follows to cover 12 ounces of raspberries:

3 eggs

1 cup of sour cream

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 cup of almond meal

1 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch

1/2 teaspoon of almond extract

To accommodate the additional filling, you will need to use a deeper pie plate.  A shallow tart pan will not cut it.  The baking time also needs to be increased to at least 50 minutes, still watching for the golden brown on top, but stay at 350 degrees.

In the future, I would also use a short bread crust, what the French call a pâte sablée, to be more durable and to resemble the taste and texture of what you would actually find in France.  

It might also work well with Dr. Oetker Clear Glaze brushed over the top when you are done.

As for the flavor, it is fantastic.  The tartness of the raspberries really comes through.  You get a slight hint of almond, but it is not what drives the overall flavor.  Even though it tastes delicious, the taste isn't quite complete.  Since it is by no means a sweet pie, it could be nicely complemented with either vanilla or pistachio ice cream.

Piece out!
Justin

Cookbook Wish List

My birthday is a month away.  Instead of getting coffee travel mugs that I have no use for, I thought I would put this out into the universe and see what it returns to me.

I have created a wish list on Amazon that can be found at http://amzn.com/w/3048PAXIKO62F. The list is comprised of nine pie cookbooks that I do not own, that I would like to own, and that I think would up my pie game.

And I need to up my pie game.  I plan to enter some competitions this summer at the Lake County and Illinois State Fairs.  For these competitions my recipes need to be original; however, a solid technique for getting the perfect consistency of certain trickier fillings would be immensely helpful in creating my own recipes.

Piece out!

Justin

Gypsy Tart

I recently ordered Tart It Up! by Eric Lanlard on Amazon.  The book has over 100 recipes for both sweet and savory pies.  The collection of recipes is unique and offers a lot of recipes not found in other cookbooks.  The majority of the recipes are complicated and require a shopping list, as opposed to "hey, I need to get some blueberries and a lemon."  The one thing I love about this book is that it includes a tip for most of the recipes for how to make the pie go from great to outstanding.  I intend to make a lot of these recipes once berries come in season.  Order your copy here, so you can make his baked raspberry and basil tart once raspberries aren't $4.99 for a little container.  These majority of these are pies to impress, and not weekly "oh hey, I felt like making a pie" pies.

From this cookbook, I made the Gypsy tart.  It was the only pie that did not require me to go out to the grocery store again after the mail came.  Other than the crust, the only other ingredients are evaporated milk and brown sugar.  After following the recipe and letting it chill for the two recommended hours, the pie did not set.  I think I over-whipped the filling, going the full fifteen minutes even though it came to the described consistency after about nine minutes.  I tried baking it for another 10 minutes.  Still no good, so I stuck it in the freezer.  After three and a half hours in the freezer, it still had not come together.  I was able to cut a piece, but the hole filled with liquid.

However, after sitting in the freezer for 24 hours, I was able to cut a slice that kept its shape.  I was nice as a cold pie.  Like eating caramel gelato in a pie crust.  So if you try this pie and it doesn't set, you don't have to throw it out.  You can freeze it and eat it that way.

I will try this pie again and trust my instinct on the filling:  when it thickens to almost soft peaks I will stop.

Piece out!
Justin

To Residents of Illinois from the APC

Hi, 

We are the American Pie Council, a nationwide, non profit organization, located in Illinois, dedicated to the celebration, promotion and preservation of America's Pie Heritage and we would like to see pumpkin pie adopted as the official state pie of Illinois.
Illinois produces 3 times as many pumpkins as any other state in the union, process 90-95% of the country's pumpkin and produces 85% of the world's canned pumpkin. 

That's why I signed a petition to The Illinois State House and The Illinois State Senate, which says:

"A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION urging the adoption of the pumpkin pie as Illinois's official state pie.
Whereas, the American Pie Council, a nationwide nonprofit organization dedicated to the celebration, promotion, and preservation of America’s pie heritage, would like to see the pumpkin pie adopted as the official state pie of Illinois; 
Whereas, pumpkins, native to North America, and pastries, a European culinary tradition, created a union perfectly befitting the melting pot of American diversity – from the early Pilgrims’ days to today; 
Whereas, in 1978, Illinois Governor James Thompson named Morton, Illinois “The Pumpkin Capital of the World” for its processing of 85% of the world’s canned pumpkins; 
Whereas, the state of Illinois grows more than twice as many pumpkins as the next biggest pumpkin-growing state; 
Whereas, Illinois produces around 90 to 95% of the processed pumpkins in the United States; 
Whereas, food and culinary practices helped immigrants feel at home in their strange, new surroundings, it is important that we remember these practices and the foods that remain a part of our daily lives still today. " 

Will you sign the petition too? Click here to add your name: 

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/adopt-pumpkin-pie-to?source=s.fwd&r_by=192277 

Thanks! 

My Thanksgiving 2014 mini pumpkin chiffon pies

Piece out!

Justin

Vote for Me!

My μελόπιτα from yesterday is now up on Instructables.  It has also been entered into the PI/E DAY CONTEST, so I need you to go and vote for it.

To vote for it in the PI/E DAY CONTEST:
1. Go to http://www.instructables.com/id/PI-sized-PIece-of-Greek-Honey-PIe/
2. Click Sign Up and create a free account.
3. Go back to the page and Vote!

Share this with all of your friends and get them to vote for me as well.

I promise to vote for your baby/cat the next time you enter your baby/cat in an internet contest for the cutest baby/cat.

Piece out!
Justin

Μελόπιτα

Today, I made a Greek honey pie to celebrate Pi Day.  The choice of Greek honey pie, or μελόπιτα, is to honor Archimedes, the Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer from Syracuse, Sicily, with a traditional cheese-based pie from that part of the world.

The recipe I used can be found here: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/honey-pie-from-sifnos/

Though I substituted half of the water for vodka for a flakier crust.

To up the Pi factor, I also cut the pie into 25 slices, so that each piece had an area of pi square inches.

I will also be entering this project on www.instructables.com for their PI/E DAY CONTEST. I will include a link to where you can vote once it is up.

Also, here are two more pictures of how I celebrated Pi Day.

Pi Day T-Shirt

Pushing Daisies Pillow Case

Piece out!
Justin

Happy Pi Day

I baked my first pie on December 29th, 2010, in the middle of binge-watching Pushing Daisies.  I used no recipe, an 8-inch cake pan, and the Anjou pears that had come in a fruit basket for Christmas and were about to go bad.

A lot has changed since then.

In 2011, I started a blog that can be found at http://justinpieman.blogspot.com .  It is a collection of recipes that I used that spring and summer.  (I have no idea which e-mail address I used or what the password was for this account, so here I am starting over.)  I started in a kitchen that had two 18” sections of countertop.  I now have about 10’ of counter top and a 3’x5’ table; so, not only do I have enough room to make a pie without putting a cutting board over the sink, but I also have a place to put the pie after I make it.

Since the first pie, I have bought or acquired actual pie dishes, tart pans, a rolling pin, pie weights, a lattice cutter, and pie cutters.   I now own more than 10 pie cookbooks and have over 200 more recipes pinned on Pinterest.

I have now made over 75 pies:  from American staples, like apple or strawberry-rhubarb, to the unique, like avocado, and from family recipes, like pumpkin chiffon, to ethnic fares, like tarte au riz or today’s μελόπιτα.  And, as of today, I am an Amateur Lifetime Member of the American Pie Council.

To celebrate Pi Day, I give you two different pies:

Pecan π

Lemon Meringue πr2

And later today, I will serve you up a π-sized piece of μελόπιτα, which is a Greek honey pie.  The choice of μελόπιτα is to honor Archimedes, the Ancient Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, inventor, and astronomer from Syracuse, Sicily, with a traditional cheese-based pie from that part of the world.

Piece out!
Justin