Wassail Pie

Another modification of the Grapefruit Custard Pie by Four & Twenty Blackbirds.  It was inspired by trying to make a pie with what I had in the house for a staff bake sale at school. 

I replaced the grapefruit juice with wassail (from Trader Joe's) and the Campari with a French brandy.  Like the time I made the Apple Cider Custard version, this one was a little watery.  I have found that without using just citrus juice (grapefruit or lemon and lime) it gets watery.  I definitely want to try this pie again and will probably add another tablespoon or two of flour to see if that fixes the problem.  I also added a few drops of red food coloring to keep it from looking like baby poop. 

The taste is fantastic and definitely worth trying to figure out the consistency problem for the future.

Piece out!
Justin

Variations on Apple Pie

My basic apple pie filling comes from the Four & Twenty Blackbirds cookbook.  I've used this filling in a lot of pies.  Here is a pie that uses it and one that does not.

 

The first pie I tried to do a cinnamon roll crust with my usual pie crust.  In the end, it tasted fine, but didn't have the texture I was hoping for.  If I were to try this again, I would buy some puff pastry and use that for the "cinnamon roll"ing on top.  I may try to work on this one some more though and see if I can find a way to make it from scratch to use in contests.

The second pie was one that Grant and I made at a cooking class that we went to at the Chopping Block during à la carte Chicago.  I made this one for my dad's birthday.  It was really good.  I used a lot more apples than we used in the class (they gave us three apples that were barely larger than crab apples) and it turned out a lot nicer.  Below are the ingredients and directions from the class, but I recommend using 2 or 3 decent sized apples.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound Granny Smith or golden delicious apples, peeled and sliced 1/8 inch thick 

1/3 cup granulated sugar 

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

Pinch salt 

1 egg 

1/3 cup granulated sugar 

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

1/2 cup heavy cream 

3 tablespoons calvados or brandy 

Powdered sugar, for garnish 

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°.
Roll the disk of dough out onto a floured surface into a 10- to 12-inch circle. There will be some overhang. Place in a tart pan with a removable bottom, cut away the excess dough and crimp the edges. Chill for 15 minutes in the refrigerator.
Cover the dough with parchment paper. Place either pie weights or dried beans on top of the parchment paper and bake the crust until light golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool.
For the filling, toss the sliced apples with the sugar, cinnamon and salt. Artfully arrange the apple slices in the partially baked tart shell so they overlap in concentric circles.
Bake on a parchment-lined sheet tray for about 20 minutes, or until the apples are almost tender. Remove the tart from the oven and allow to cool a bit.
While the tart is cooling, prepare the custard. Whisk the egg and sugar together in a mediumsize bowl until thick, ribbony and pale yellow. Whisk in the flour, heavy cream and liquor. Pour the custard over the apples.
Return the tart to the oven and continue to bake until the custard is puffy and golden brown, about 25 minutes. When a knife is inserted into the center of the tart, it should come out clean. 8. Allow the tart to cool for about 10 minutes, cut into slices and serve garnished with a dusting of powdered sugar. Serve warm.

Piece out!
Justin

Sour Cream Cranberry Pie

I have seen a lot recipes for Sour Cream Raisin pies.  I wanted to try a fall twist on this, and used dried cranberries instead of raisins.  I turned to the recipe in The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, since other recipes that I looked had twice the amount of sour cream.  While the filling was cooling, I panicked that it would not fully set, so I added a tablespoon of King Arthur Flour's Signature Secrets as insurance.

I also skipped the whipped topping, and used the two egg whites that are left over to make a meringue.  I added 1/4 cup of powdered sugar and a 1/4 teaspoon of cream of tartar and beat it into stiff stiff peaks, then spooned it over the filling and baked it at 325oF for 15 minutes.

This pie turned out fantastic.  It is very rich and is definitely an 8 slice pie, not a 6 slice pie.  It definitely captures the fall flavors I was trying to get.  I would definitely do more meringue if I had more egg whites laying around from another recipe, but a two-egg meringue works fine.

This would be a great pie for Thanksgiving, if you are looking to provide more options than pumpkin, apple, and pecan.

Piece out!
Justin

Lime Custard Pie

This pie was another take on the Grapefruit Custard Pie.  It is much lighter than a Key Lime Pie and more refreshing than rich.  I followed the recipe in The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book for the Grapefruit custard pie, but substituted lime juice for the grapfruit juice and yellow Chartreuse for the Campari.  The herbal quality of the Chartreuse adds a little intrigue, but doesn't overpower the lime flavor that you would want from this pie.

This is definitely a the perfect pie to enjoy on a hot summer day.  Throw a picnic, invite me, and I'll bring one.

Piece out!
Justin

Peaches & Cream Pie

With only two entries for peach pie at the Illinois State Fair this year, I figured I should start making peach pies to find a good one to enter next year.  I'd be guaranteed at least third place, right?

I decided to try Four & Twenty Blackbirds' Peaches & Cream Pie with a double crust (peach pies must have a double crust for the state fair).  This was a terrible idea.

Out of the oven, the pie looked beautiful.  However, the recipe warns against over cooking as the custard will separate.  It did.  It got clumpy and gritty.  The taste was still amazing, but the texture was rather off-putting.

Back to the cutting board...

Piece out!
Justin

Ginger Strawberry Pie

I made this pie to use up the strawberries I had bought for yesterday's Strawberry Balsamic Pie.  This recipe is very similar and the directions are practically identical.  The recipe actually calls for wild ginger.  I have no idea where to even look for wild ginger, so I used regular ginger.  Since you already have the box grater out for the apple, do yourself a favor.  I was three quarters of the way through mincing my ginger when I realized I could just be grating it.  I also think that grated ginger would blend a little bit better into the filling instead of having occasional mini-chunks of ginger in your bites of pie.

Again, this pie is messy.  Today, I was smart and put aluminum foil down on the baking sheet to avoid scrubbing the sticky mess off of the sheet afterward.

Yesterday, I made the analogy that the Strawberry Balsamic Pie was more a bassoon solo than a clarinet solo.  To continue my strawberry-pie-is-just-like-a-musical-instrument-solo series of analogies, this pie is like a cornet solo.  The flavor is just as bright as a clarinet, but a little bit brassier.  It's a fun pie, with an unexpected flavor.  I'm not sure which of the two pies I prefer.  They are both so good, and yet so different.   I think that this pie would be more of a general crowd-pleaser; however, the other would be more likely to impress your foodie friends.

Or just do what I did and buy four pounds of strawberries and make both.

Piece out!
Justin

Strawberry Balsamic Pie

Yesterday, I decided to make the Strawberry Balsamic Pie from The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book.  Today, when I went to Costco I bought a lot of strawberries.  Twice as many as I actually needed.  So I will be making the Ginger Strawberry Pie from the same cookbook tomorrow.

I thought it was odd that I had to macerate the strawberries and then pour out the liquid.  But this must be necessary to keep the filling from being too watery.  Another interesting part of the recipe is adding a box-grated apple to the filling. But I trust this cookbook like a Boy Scout handbook.

It is not a clean pie.  You want to make sure that you put the pie plate on a cookie sheet to keep the filling from oozing all over the bottom of your oven.  Unless you like the smell of oven cleaner; in that case, by all means...

It was also fairly warm in my house today (especially after running the oven at 425oF and 375oF), so although the filling had cooled it hadn't completely set.  So, maybe tomorrow I will get a cleaner slice to show you.

The pie itself is fantastic.  It isn't as bright as other strawberry pies.  It is still as sweet; however, it has a deeper and more complex flavor.  To best describe this:  imagine a bassoon solo instead of a clarinet solo.  You also don't notice the balsamic until the end of each bite.  Then it comes through and adds yet another note to this intricate symphony of flavors.

After sitting in the refrigerator over night, the filling did set up and created a "nicer" slice.  You don't need to wait to eat it, but stick it in the fridge if you plan on sharing with friends, or your husband's co-workers.

Piece out!

Justin

Grapefruit Custard Pie

Yesterday, I made the Grapefruit Custard Pie from The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book, by Emily Elsen and Melissa Elsen, to share with my family at Easter brunch.  This is the third recipe that I have made from this cookbook.  The first two were the Salted Caramel Apple Pie and Maple Buttermilk Custard Pie that I made as mini-pies for Thanksgiving 2014.  

So far, this cookbook has produced perfect fillings.  The custards are smooth and the fruit fillings aren't too juicy.  If you are looking for a pie cookbook that strays from the standards, but yields consistently amazing and wonderful pies, buy this book.

The flavor of this pie is refreshing and light.  I hate grapefruit, but I loved it.  My husband, who hates sweet pies, ate a whole slice without complaint.  The recipe can probably be switched around with other citrus juices and/or different alcohols.  So, expect to see an amaretto sour pie in the next few weeks... 

Piece out!

Justin