Apple and Pear Pie

My family loves apple pie. Sometimes for a twist, I like to mix some pears in. It’s amazing how nicely the pears and apples blend together!

For this recipe, you can use anykind of pears….but green Anjou, Bartlett, Bosc and Concorde are my favorites for this pie. For apples, golden delicious or MacIntosh are probably the best. 

Here’s the recipe:

APPLE PEAR PIE

Two crust pie pastry for 9-inch pie

3 cups peeled, cored and thinly-sliced tart cooking apples (about 4 large)
3 cups peeled and thinly-sliced pears (about 5-6 large)
1 cup granulated sugar
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose or unbleached white flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. lemon juice
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of the pie pastry. Refrigerate until ready to fill. To soften the apple and pear slices, put them in a microwave-proof bowl and microwave on high for about 5 minutes. After a couple minutes in the microwave, take the bowl out and stir the fruit before putting them back in the microwave, to ensure they’re cooking evenly.

Remove the apple and pear slices from the microwave. Stir in the sugars, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon filling into the chilled pie shell. Dot with butter. Place top crust on trop and seal and crimp edges decoratively. Cut steam vents in the top crust. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 1 hour. If the edges start browning too fast, put aluminum foil or pastry shields on top of the crust.

The pie is done when it is slightly golden and the filling is oozing out of the steam vents. When done, remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least an hour. Tastes wonderful served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Classic Lemon Meringue Pie

There is just something about a hot, summery day that’s perfect for a cool, citrus pie. I’ve included a couple such recipes already in this blog. Another family favorite is lemon meringue pie. The recipe below is the pie I’ve been making for about 25 years. I adopted the recipe from one printed in Bon Appétit many years ago.

LEMON MERINGUE PIE

Filling:

1 ½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/8 tsp. salt
2 cups water
4 jumbo egg yolks, at room temperature,
½ cup lemon juice (ideally freshly squeezed)
2 T. freshly grated lemon zest
2 T. butter, cut into small pieces

One baked, 9-inch pie crust

Meringue:

4 large egg whites, at room temperature
¾ cup granulated sugar (ideally superfine)
¼ tsp. cream of tartar
½ tsp. vanilla extract

Beat the egg yolks in a small bowl and set aside. Combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium-sized, heavy saucepan. Whisk in the water. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring continually. Bring to a boil, and reduce heat to medium, stirring for another minute. Remove from heat. Whisk about ½ cup of the hot mixture into the beaten egg yolks, and then add that back into the hot mixture over the stove. Stir over a medium heat until mixture begins to boil. Reduce to low and stir one minute more. Remove from heat. Stir in the lemon juice, zest and butter. Pour filling into pie shell. Place plastic wrap directly over the filling. Let cool on wire rack at room temperature for about an hour. Then put in the refrigerator to cool completely.

Right before serving, or up to 24 hours in advance, make the meringue. Beat the whites with a mixer on high speed until frothy. Add the sugar, cream of tartar and vanilla extract. Continue beating until firm, glossy (but not dry) peaks are formed with the meringue. Spread the meringue decoratively on top of the filling, enclosing it completely. Be sure to touch the crust with the meringue all around the edges. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes, until the meringue is lightly browned. Serve immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

Triple Berry Pie

Fresh berries are in season right now—and they’re not too expensive-- so I couldn’t resist buying some. This evening I made a triple berry pie…and just took it out of the oven. My family is now having a late-night snack of warm berry pie alamode. Yum! Here’s the recipe:

TRIPLE BERRY PIE

Pastry for a 9-inch double-crust pie
2 cups fresh blueberries

       2 cups fresh blackberries
       2 cups fresh raspberries
       1 cup granulated sugar
       1/3 cup all-purpose flour
       1 tsp. lemon juice
       2 T. butter, cut into small pieces
       1 T. half and half or heavy cream
       1 tsp. granulated sugar

Line pie pan with half of the pastry. In a mixing bowl, combine the berries, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Spoon into bottom crust. Top with butter pieces (trying for an even coverage). Rollout the second half of of the dough into a circle about 10-11 inches in diameter. Cut into ½ to ¾ inch strips, using a pastry cutter if desired. Place about 6 to 7 strips, evenly spaced, on top of crust. You should have about half of your strips left. One by one, weave these over and under the lengthwise strips that are already on top of the filling. Then moisten your fingertips with warm water and carefully seal the edges of the crust. Trim the overhang of the top strips to ½ inch. Flute the edges of the crust.

Put aluminum foil strips on the crust or use a pie shield. Bake the pie for 30 minutes. Remove covering from the crust edges. Bake pie for an additional 20-30 minutes until crust is lightly golden and filling is bubbly. Cool at least an hour before serving.

Delicious served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Butternut Squash Pie

When I was growing up, it seemed like my mom was always making us a butternut squash pie. To me, it tasted like a pumpkin pie…only better! I make the same pie for my own kids, and they like it too. The recipe is below. It’s a scrumptious pie…and not just for the fall. I just made one this past weekend!

BUTTERNUT SQUASH PIE

1 unbaked and chilled 9-inch pie shell

1 large butternut squash, cooked and pureed, about 2 cups pureed squash

1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

3 large eggs, room temperature

½ cup half-and-half

½ cup heavy whipping cream

2 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp. ground ginger

¼ tsp. ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 T. white flour

2 T. melted butter

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

To cook squash:
Cut the squash in half lengthwise; remove stem and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash, cut side down, on a foil-lined oiled baking pan; add about 1/2 cup of water to the pan. Cover loosely with foil and bake at 400° for about an hour and 15 minutes. Squash should be soft. Remove from oven. Scoop out pulp. Mash the pulp with a potato masher, or puree it in a food processor just about 5-7 pulses, just to get out the lumps. Measure 2 cups of the squash and set aside. If the squash seems watery, put it through a sieve to remove the extra liquid.

Reduce oven to 350° F and position an oven rack in the center of the oven. In a mixing bowl with electric mixer, beat the squash with the brown sugar. Add eggs, cream, ½ and ½, spices, salt, flour, butter, and vanilla. Stir until blended. Pour the filling into the chilled pie and place on the center oven rack. Bake for about one hour, or until set. Remove from oven and cool on rack for about an hour. Then chill in the refrigerator at least 2 hours before serving. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Enjoy!

 

 

COPY-CAT GRAND TRAVERSE PIE COMPANY CHERRY STREUSEL PIE

I love the cherry crumb pie that the Grand Traverse Pie Company makes. On our trip to Michigan earlier this summer, we went to this restaurant twice. I have to say upfront, I am really picky about pies in restaurants. Pies are my thing. I rarely find pie in a restaurant that tastes good, or anywhere near like homemade. However, the cherry crumb pie made by the Grand Traverse Pie Company is an exception. This pie is delicious.

When I got home from Traverse City in early July, I got busy developing my own, copy-cat cherry crumb  pie recipe. It tastes pretty close to what you’ll get at the Grand Traverse Pie Company. I am sure you’ll like it!

CHERRY STREUSEL PIE

Streusel topping:

6 T. cold butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup all-purpose or unbleached white flour
¾ cup uncooked oatmeal, old-fashioned or quick-cooking

Blend topping ingredients with your fingers or using a pastry blender, under crumbly. Refrigerate until ready to put on top of pie.

Filling:

2 (1 lb.) cans pitted tart red cherries (juice pack)
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
Dash salt
1/8 tsp. pure almond extract
2 T. butter

1 (9-inch) unbaked pastry shell

Drain cherries, reserving 1 cup liquid. In medium saucepan, combine ½ cup of the sugar, cornstarch and salt; stir in reserved cherry liquid. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbling slightly. Reduce heat to low and cook one minute more. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining ½ cup of sugar, the cherries, butter and almond extract. Spoon into pastry shell. Sprinkle topping over filling. Bake in 400 degree oven for about  40 minutes. Cool on pie rack at least an hour before serving.

 

Lemon Icebox Pie

I love any kind of citrus pie, especially on a hot summer day. One of my favorite citrus pies is Lemon Icebox Pie. The recipe I use comes from The Southern Pie Book. If you like Key Lime Pie, you are sure to love this pie too!

LEMON ICEBOX PIE

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling:

6 large egg yolks
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 cup fresh lemon juice (7 large lemons)
2 (14 oz.) cans sweetened condensed milk

Topping:

Freshly whipped cream

First make the crust. Stir together all ingredients in a medium bowl. Press crumb mixture into a deep dish 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate until ready to fill.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat egg yolks with mixer until thick and pale (about 5 minutes). Add lemon zest, lemon juice and condensed milk, beating just until blended. Pour into prepared crust. Bake for 20-25 minutes—until filling just barely sets. Remove from oven and cool on wire rack about an hour. Cover and refrigerate until set—at least 2-3 hours.

Top with whipped cream. To whip the cream, beat a pint of whipping cream with ¼ to 1/3 cup of powdered sugar (depending on taste). Spread on top of pie. I like to put the whipping cream in a large pastry bag, fitted with a large star tip, and pipe on the whipped cream. If you are making the pie the day or evening before serving, add some whipped cream stabilizer (such as Dr. Oetker’s Whip It) to the cream before piping.

I like to garnish this pie with white chocolate lemon almonds.

Refrigerate until serving time. Enjoy!

 

Carrot Custard Pie

 

We had a lot of carrots in the fridge that were getting old and not being used. My husband suggested I make a pie out of them. What an idea! I did just that. I made a pie out of fresh carrots. And guess what….it kind of tastes like pumpkin or sweet potato pie, yet a little different. My tasters love it! You might too!

CARROT CUSTARD PIE

1 cup granulated sugar
½ tsp. salt
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. cloves
1 ½ tsp. cinnamon
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 lbs. raw carrots, cooked and pureed in food processor
1 cup heavy cream, at room temperature
½ cup light cream (half and half), at room temperature
1 deep dish (9-inch) pie shell, unbaked

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Combine sugar, salt, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the carrot puree. Stir in the heavy cream and half and half. Pour filling into the pie shell. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 45 minutes longer or until filling is set. Cool to room temperature, and then chill in the refrigerator 2-3 hours or overnight. Serve with whipped cream. Enjoy!

 

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

 

Say the word “pie” and probably the kind that immediately comes to mind for most people is apple pie. Who doesn’t like an apple pie, just out of the oven, warm and topped with vanilla ice cream?!! Nobody can resist that! I am talking an apple pie made with “real” apples—not using artificial-tasting canned apple pie filling.

What type of apples are best? There are a lot of strong opinions out there. Generally, though, people agree that you should use a tart apple. My favorites to use are either golden delicious or Macintosh.

I just pulled an apple pie out of the oven, and my family is now enjoying apple pie ala mode. Here’s the recipe:

OLD-FASHIONED APPLE PIE

Two crust pie pastry for 9-inch pie

6 cups peel, cored and thinly-sliced tart cooking apples (about 7 large)
½ cup golden brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar
2 heaping tablespoons all-purpose or unbleached white flour
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into bits

Line a 9-inch pie pan with half of the pie pastry. Refrigerate until ready to fill. To soften the apple slices, put them in a microwave-proof bowl and microwave on high for about 5 minutes. After a couple minutes in the microwave, take the bowl out and stir the apples before putting them back in the microwave, to ensure the apples are cooking evenly.

Remove the apples from the microwave. Stir in the sugars, flour, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon filling into the chilled pie shell. Dot with butter. Place top crust on trop and seal and crimp edges decoratively. Cut steam vents in the top crust. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 1 hour. If the edges start browning too fast, put aluminum foil or pastry shields on top of the crust.

The pie is done when it is slightly golden and the filling is oozing out of the steam vents. When done, remove from oven and cool on a rack for at least an hour. Tastes wonderful served warm and topped with vanilla ice cream.

Enjoy!