Illinois State Fair Results 2016

I entered three pies into the Open Culinary Department at the Illinois State Fair this year, as well as one entry in the Pumpkin Pie Special Contest.

My Taffy Apple Pie took first place in the Apple Class.

My Peach Paprika Pie took first place in the Peach Class.

My Triple Berry Pie did not place in the Berry Class.  The top three, including the champion of the Pie Division, were traditional blueberry pies.  I wish I could have made my Blue Hawaii Pie, but with the lack of refrigeration, I don't think it would last the 24 hours from the time I drop it off until it would be judged.

My Pumpkin Spice Latte Chiffon Pie also did not place in the Pumpkin Pie Contest.  The judge thought the espresso overpowered the pumpkin.  Also, after an almost 4 hour car ride, I do not think the chiffon was as nicely set up as it is when it is fresh out of the refrigerator.  The winners of this contest also had more traditional/vintage pies.  However, I take some consolation in the fact that the first place and third place winners from 2015 also did not place.

Now on to new ideas for next year...

Piece out!

Justin

Sweet Cherry Pie

I have a friend who has cherry trees in his yard.  So one day I offered to make a pie with him, if he provided the cherries.  So that is what we did.

Ingredients:

6 cups of frozen sweet cherries

3/4 - 1 cup of sugar (his sweet cherries are still pretty tart, so we went with 1 cup)

3 tablespoons of King Arthur Flour's Signature Secrets

Juice from one lemon

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

Directions:

Thaw the cherries.  Mix all ingredients in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Pour filling into a bottom crust and then cover with a top crust (We did lattice.  If you use a full top crust, make sure you cut vents.)  Bake for 20 minutes at 425oF, then reduce the heat to 375oF and continue to bake for 35 minutes.  Allow to cool.  

I have some sad news: King Arthur Flour has discontinued Signature Secrets.  My suggestion would be to use a little more than 3 tablespoons of cornstarch or use a little less sugar and use King Arthur Flour's Pie Filling Enhancer.  Either should work.

I really liked this pie.  It had a nice tartness to it, unlike store-bought cherry pie filling's sugary sweetness.  If you wanted to make this with sour cherries, swap the lemon juice for a 1/4 teaspoon of nutmeg and swap the vanilla extract for a 1/2 teaspoon of almond extract.

Piece out!

Justin

Triple Berry Pie

I have been looking for a good berry pie recipe since the failure to place of the Blackberry Mint Julep Pie at last year's state fair.  I finally found one that I like.  With a library of over 30 pie cookbooks, you would think it would have been an easy task.  It wasn't.  But here is what I made.

Ingredients: 

Quart of strawberries

Half pint of blueberries

Half pint of raspberries

1/2 cup of water

1 tablespoon of lemon juice

1/2 cup of sugar

3 tablespoons of King Arthur Flour's Instant ClearJel

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla

Directions:

Blend 1 cup of strawberries with water and lemon juice.  Combine sugar and ClearJel.  Whisk strawberry and sugar mixtures together in a medium sauce pan.  Bring to boil over medium heat.  Boil 1 minute.  Remove from heat.  Hull and quarter remaining strawberries.  Add blueberries, raspberries, and vanilla.  Pour slightly cooled strawberry mixture over berries.  Stir gently.  Pour into a blind-baked crust.  Allow to cool and/or refrigerate.

If you want to use cornstarch, because you have it.  Use two tablespoons and add it, along with the sugar to the blender.  However, do not do this with ClearJel.  It makes a huge mess.  Trust me.

I really like the freshness of the flavor of this pie.  A lot of fresh berry pie recipes use strawberry-favored gelatin, which I feel takes away from the natural deliciousness of the berries. 

A friend of mine said this pie looks "berry good," but I guarantee it tastes even better.

Piece out!

Justin

Lake County Fair Results 2016

This year I entered 4 pies and two cookies.  My Chocolate Chip cookies took First Place.  It is the recipe my family has used for years and they are really good.  My Snickerdoodles took Third Place.  Also, my family's recipe and now the victim of what is clearly a conspiracy...  Anyway, you're here about pie.

For the Blueberry Class, I entered my Blue Hawaii Pie.  This pie won First Place and also Grand Champion for the Pie Division.  What everyone, the judges and more importantly my mother, seems to like about this pie is the freshness of the blueberries.  I also got a positive comment on the crust.

For the Apple Class, I entered my Taffy Apple Pie.  This pie also won First Place.  Though the top crust was criticized for being too thick.

For the Other Pie Class, I entered the Chocolate Truffle Tart.  This also won First Place.

For the Pumpkin Class, I entered the Pumpkin Spice Latte Chiffon Pie.  This won Second Place.  But I am not surprised.  On the entry tag, there is no place to write the name of your pie.  So with comments like "Not a 'pumpkin pie' flavor" and "filling soft," I think there were expecting a traditional pumpkin pie.  This is definitely not that.  I also had to laugh because a comment here also complained about the crust, which is the same crust as the Blue Hawaii.

So, now, I guess it is time to focus on my pies for the state fair...

Piece out!
Justin

Blue Hawaii Pie

I have wanted to make a pie like this since I saw A Few Good Pie Places last summer on PBS.  À la Mode Pies in Seattle makes a pie like this, but I needed to figure out how to make it my own.  The answer came when I bought Maury Rubin's Book of Tarts.  Here was the result, after many not-quite-right attempts.

Ingredients: 

1 cup of heavy cream

3/4 cup of sugar

2 pints of blueberries

4 oz. can of crushed pineapple

1 1/4 cup of shredded coconut

2 tablespoons of King Arthur Flour's Pie Filling Enhancer

Directions:

Combine the cream and sugar is a small sauce pan.  Cook over medium heat until the sugar dissolves.  Let the mixture cool a bit while you prepare the rest.  Combine the blueberries, crushed pineapple, and 1 cup of shredded coconut.  Stir in the Pie Filling Enhancer.  Pour in the cream mixture and stir.  Pour into a partially blind-baked pie crust and bake for 35 minutes at 375oF.  Allow to cool completely.  Because it has dairy, I also refrigerate it.

I really like this pie.  My mom really likes this pie.  People at my husband's work really like this pie.  And the judges at the Lake County Fair really like this pie: it was Grand Champion for pies this year.

Piece out!

Justin

Pi Day 2016

Happy Pi Day!

This year for my pi pies, I made the Jammie Dodger Pie with a pi crust (though it is hard to read, the numbers around the edge are 3.141592653589) and the Chocolate Truffle Tart with the chocolate wafer crust and used my new pi cutter to dust the symbol onto the top.

I also ran the Illinois Science Council's Pi Day Pi K Fun Run while wearing my Pi Day shirt from last year and a hat shaped like a slice of pumpkin pie.  I ran it 34 minutes and 36 seconds.  I also submitted this time for the Pi Day 5K Virtual Run, for which I should receive my swag in a couple weeks.

Since the start of this blog, one year ago today, it has been a big year for me and pie.  I won four ribbons at county and state fairs.  I won an apron in a pie contest at school.  I baked pies for local police officers for National Pie Day.  And as the whipped cream on top of it all, I ran a personal best for the Pi K.  I'm looking forward to what the coming year will bring!

Piece out!

Justin

Romeo and Juliet Pie

Today I created a pie based on the Brazilian dessert Romeu e Julieta.  That dessert is slices of guava pasta with a white cheese.  Portuguese settlers did not have quinces to make quince paste and substituted guava instead.  Quince paste was still used in other Latin American countries like Argentina, where it is used to make a pie called pastafrola.  In Italian, pastafrolla is a shortbread crust.  Instead of making a shortbread crust, I used a Tortafrolla di Verona, a giant shortbread cookie from Verona.  "The story has it that Tortafrolla was first made in Juliet's house and became a specialty from Verona, a city much loved by Shakespeare."  I also decided to use quince paste, instead of guava paste, since in Act IV, Scene 4 the Nurse says "They call for dates and quinces in the pastry."

Crust:
1 Tortafrolla di Verona
1 stick of melted butter

Cheese filling:
12 oz of Ricotta cheese
2 tablespoons of heavy cream
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
3 tablespoons of brandy
1 teaspoon of vanilla
1/4 teaspoon of salt

Quince topping:
15 oz of dulce de membrillo (quince paste)
1/4 cup of water

Directions:
Pulse the Tortafrolla in a food processor, like you would with graham crackers.  Add the melted butter.  Press into a tart pan, and place in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Blend the ricotta, heavy cream, and sugar.  Add the eggs and yolks one at a time.  Add the brandy, vanilla, and salt.  Pour into the crust.  Bake for 35-40 minutes at 300oF.  Allow to cool.

Break up the dulce de membrillo into a medium sauce pan.  Add the water.  Cook over medium high heat until the dulce de membrillo has completely broken down and the mixture has the consistency of a thick syrup.  Immediately pour over filling and smooth it out with an offset spatula.  Allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least two hours.

The flavors that I wanted were all there, but the textures were all wrong.  The next time, I would do a shortbread crust instead of a cookie crust.  The cheese filling was also a little grainy.  It was not smooth like a ricotta cheesecake.  I think it would work better with marscapone cheese or cream cheese in the filling instead of ricotta.  Also, the dulce de membrillo really toughened up, it could be diluted with another 1/4 cup of water to make it more like a thin gel instead of a thick layer of fruit roll-up.  The recipe needs to be reworked, but the idea is definitely a winner.

Piece out!
Justin