Blueberry Lattice Pie kicks off a new tradition - Friday Night Bakes and help for Hospitality House

Over the summer I have gotten into the habit of baking on Friday nights.  Yes, I know I’m a little boring – and I’m okay with that ;)

But this new routine has left me in a bit of a jam… what to do with all these baked goods.  So I started thinking…. I try to give back when I can; donating to Goodwill, running 5Ks for a cause etc...so why not kill two birds with one stone: break in my new cookbooks and take my bakes to Hospitality House.  The shelter counts on its volunteers to assist with chores like cooking and cleaning and relies solely on donations from the community for its food supply and cost coverage.  Although they have a large double kitchen [which, btw, I got to cook in when I volunteered with my company this past spring] the staff said it’s not unusual for people to just drop off dinners or baked goods.  Problem solved: my baked goodies go to the guests of Hospitality House. 

I took the pie over this morning and thought it would be nice to include a little note:

“ ‘Food, like a loving touch or a glimpse of divine power, has that ability to comfort.’
 - Norman Kolpas

I hope you all enjoy this homemade blueberry pie and that it brings you some comfort during your stay at Hospitality House.  J If you’d like the recipe you can find it on my blog at flirtingwithflour.blogspot.com.”

If blueberry filling spills a little on your crust its going to cause some discoloring (see the upper right corner and a little on the criss crosses) - Bake the pie on a cookie sheet for easier handling.


Update: I got a handwritten thank you note from Hospitality House in the mail today. :)

Blueberry Lattice Pie

Slightly modified version of Dorie Greenspan’s: Baking from My Home to Yours

2 batches of Alton Brown’s basic pie crust

({or your preferred recipe – or if you need to cheat Pillsbury makes a decent dough ;)

4 cups frozen* or fresh blueberries

(*do not thaw them if they’re frozen)

¾ cups granulated sugar

½ cup flour

The juice and zest of 1 lemon

4 tbs melted butter

1 egg + 1 tsp water

Sugar for extra sparkle

• You may also want to grab a ruler or have a long blade knife on hand (about ½ inch to 1 inch wide.
• Toss the blueberries, flour, sugar, lemon zest, and lemon juice in a large bowl. Pour into prepared pie crust.  Drizzle with the melted butter. 
• Begin to weave your lattice (see directions below under the pie crust recipe). If you want, you can trim the pie with any remaining dough to create an even crust. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a few tbs of sugar.
• Bake at 425F for about 45 minutes.  If the filling does not look thick, no worries, it will set. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour.  
• Serve with vanilla ice cream or freshly whipped cream.

Alton Brown’s Basic Pie Crust

1 ½ AP flour

½ tsp kosher salt

2 tbs shortening (chilled)

8 tbs unsalted butter, cut into cubes and frozen (or well chilled in freezer)

Ice water (about a ¼ cup) 

• Combine the flour and salt in a blender. Pulse 3 times.
• Add butter and pulse 3 times again.
• Add shortening and blend 3 times (again…)
• Spritz with about 1-2 tbs ice water – just enough to get the top of the flour moist.
• Blend 5-7 more times and spritz with about 1-2 tbs of the water. Pulse about 5 more times.
• Dump the dough onto plastic wrap and press into 5 inch disk. Chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
• When the dough has been chilled (aka has rested) roll the dough into a 10-12 inch circle. Transfer to pie pan. 
• Dock (aka. Poke holes) in the bottom with a fork about 10-12 times (this allows the steam to escape so you don’t end up with a bubbly pie crust)
• Line with a piece of parchment paper and weigh down with pie weights (or beans, rice etc). Bake at 375F for 20 minutes.
• Remove parchment and continue to bake until the bottom of the crust cooked.

 

Prepare a second batch of dough to use for the lattice top.  Repeat as above and this time once you’ve rolled out the dough into a 10-12 inch circle use a ruler to make long strips which you will weave to create the lattice. If you need help with how to create this patter you can find a picture tutorial at Simply Recipes.

Star Spangled Galette

Just wanted to share what I made for Fourth of July this year. I used the same blueberry galette recipe from earlier and used a cookie cutter and red sprinkles to make the stars.  Everyone at our neighborhood block party loved it =D  And this was much easier than last year's flag cake... recall the dog incident.

Blueberry Galette

 Hello Summer!! 

After one whole week I finally "broke in" my kitchen! I thought fresh blueberries from the Charlotte Farmer's Market would make a lovely rustic tart. Made the perfect dessert for burgers on the grill. Happy Memorial Day!

Blueberry Galette

Recipe courtesy of Cooking Light 

(serves 10)

• PASTRY:
• 1 3/4  cups  all-purpose flour (about 7 3/4 ounces)
• 1/3  cup  granulated sugar
• 1/4  cup  cornmeal
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/2  cup  cold butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/3  cup  fat-free buttermilk
• 
  
  FILLING:
• 4  cups  blueberries
• 2  cups  blackberries (I omitted since I didn't have any)
• 1/2  cup  granulated sugar
• 3  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 2  tablespoons  lemon juice + the zest of one lemon
• 2  tablespoons  fat-free milk
• 1  large egg white
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  turbinado sugar

Preparation

1. To prepare pastry, lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour and next 3 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor; pulse two times. Add butter to flour mixture; pulse 4 to 5 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With processor on, slowly add buttermilk through food chute; process just until dough forms a ball. Gently press dough into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap; cover. Chill 30 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350°.

3. Unwrap and place dough on a sheet of parchment paper. Roll dough into a 15-inch circle. Place dough and parchment on a baking sheet.

4. To prepare filling, combine berries and next 3 ingredients (through juice and zest) in a medium bowl; toss gently to coat. Arrange berry mixture in center of dough, leaving a 2-inch border. Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (dough will only partially cover berry mixture).

5. Combine fat-free milk and egg white in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Brush dough with milk mixture; sprinkle turbinado sugar evenly over dough. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until pastry is golden brown. Let stand 30 minutes; cut into wedges.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

306 (28% from fat)

Fat:

9.7g (sat 5.8g,mono 2.4g,poly 0.6g)

Protein:

4.3g

Carbohydrate:

52.2g

Fiber:

3.7g

Cholesterol:

24mg

Iron:

1.7mg

Sodium:

138mg

Calcium:

33mg

Puffy Pumpkin Pie

Puffy Pumpkin Pie

This is the real deal

No condensed milk or Cool Whip for this pie, just real cream.

Everyone LOVED this pie!

Made for a Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 people this pie, along with my Dad's maple apple pie, was gone in an instant! Will, a friend of mine who also loves to cook and was the master mind of this grand feast, grabbed seconds even though he was so full he could barely move! I guess whoever brought the grocery store pies can go get their money back-they weren't even opened ;)

I have made a pumpkin pie once before (several years ago) but somehow I don't remember the batter being so fluid.. I used organic pumpkin puree. The first can had a thick pourable liquid-like consistency and the second can was a little more solid, like Libby's.  Well, anyways, I didn't think to drain the puree and ended up with a very liquid batter, and had enough to fill a deep 9 inch pie crust and make 3 mini pies (and still yet 2 heart shaped cupcake pies!! - I ran out of mini tins ;)

Somehow, I wasn't satisfied with the idea of pouring a can of condensed milk, pumpkin puree and some spices into a bowl and calling it a day.... I wanted something more challenging. [at one point I thought I was going to regret being such an over-achiever on this one... Luckily I can say that being innovative and optimistic are also two of my distinguishable qualities and I managed to redeemed myself --- please see picture below]

PROBLEM: Burnt Pumpkin Pie

Okay, so I worked too hard (and quite frankly spent too much money) to just chuck this poor pie in the trash can. Luckily, pumpkin pie is pretty forgiving and forms a thin layer "skin" when it "burns". I was able to peel off the top layer and cut off the edges of the crust. (I really need to buy one of those crust savers.) Leaving me with an edible - but not too appealing - pumpkin pie.

SOLUTION: Homemade vanilla whipped cream

Everything happens for a reason. This pie would not have been the same without the whipped cream.  A friend of mine, Matt, came over so I put him to work ;-) ... but as you can see that backfired. (haha, I'm only kidding... he honestly did help a lot)

Well, without further delay, here is the recipe from William's Sonoma- please see ingredients notes.

William's Sonoma Pumpkin Pie

• 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree (from about
   1 1/2 cans, each 15 oz.)
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tbs. plus 1 tsp. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
• 3 whole eggs plus 2 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 Tbs. brandy
  
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving 
• 1 deep dish (9 inch) pie crust
  

Notes regarding the ingredients:

- I used organic pumpkin puree.  You can use what ever you'd like- just make sure its not pumpkin pie filling
- I only had skim milk so I filled the 1/3 measuring cup about 3/4 the milk and topped it off with some heavy cream to achieve something closer to whole milk
- I didn't have any brandy so I just skipped this ingredient... although I'm sure it would be fantastic.
- See my recipe for vanilla whipped cream bellow.

Make the pie

Preheat the oven to 425 F and bake a deep dish pie crust (9 inch) - either homemade or store bought - (I had to use store bought.. I was on a major time crunch!) and bake until lightly colored (maybe 10-15 minutes or so) Remember to COVER YOUR CRUST! to prevent burning. Reduce the oven temperature to 375°F.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin puree, brown sugar and granulated sugar. Add the flour, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves and whisk until smooth. Add the eggs and egg yolks and whisk until combined. Add the cream, milk, vanilla and brandy and whisk until smooth. Pour the filling into a cooled piecrust. This recipe made so much more than one deep dish pie. Fill the pie tin completely full. The pie will puff a little while baking but it will eventually settle when cooled (KEEP CRUST COVERED)

Place the pie dish on the middle baking rack. Bake until the filling is set, about 1 hour and 15 minutes, covering the edges of the crust with foil if they get too brown! Bake until an inserted knife comes out clean. The pie may still be a little "jiggle-y" or look slightly uncooked.. no worries.  Transfer the pie dish to the wire rack and let the pie cool completely, about 4 hours, before serving.

BAKING TEMPERATURE Note: It took my pie more like 1 hour and 30 minutes.  This is the only pumpkin pie recipe I have seen that does not bake the pie in increments of lowering temperatures. Several other recipes I found used this method: Pour into pie shell and bake at 425°F for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes reduce the temperature to 350°F. Bake 40-50 minutes, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.  I think I'll try this next time - maybe that will alleviate the burn problem.

Vanilla Whipped Cream

• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 3 tbs granulated white sugar
• 3 tbs powdered sugar
• 2 packets Otker Vanilla (or 1-2 tsp vanilla extract)

Pour heavy whipping cream into a bowl. Using a hand held or a standing mixer, begin to mix the cream on high speed. Gradually add granulated sugar one tablespoon at a time. Add the two packets of vanilla and three tablespoons of powdered sugar. (You can stop at any point to test the sweetness. This was pretty sweet - so adjust to your taste)

Using a plastic bag or piping bag top off your pumpkin pie how ever you'd like.

DECORATING: I love leftover pie dough :)  My sister and I would always get to make little shapes (snowmen were always fun) with the leftover dough from Dad's apple pies. So, after piping the vanilla whipped cream the pie still looked a little plain so in a combined effort Matt and I came up with this little pumpkin, we were very proud.  You can use a fork to make the vertical marks and I had the green leafs from what was actually a bottle of assorted Christmas sprinkles. Isn't it adorable!?!

Since I'm pretty health conscious I'd like to educate my readers so I'm switching gears and I'm going to start providing the nutritional stats for my recipes : )  Yey! (Well, maybe not so exciting after you see some of the stats but at least you can make moderate, and healthy choices :)

Nutritional stats:
(1/8 of pie)- not including whipped cream 
Calories 319, Fat 13grams, Carbs 45grams, Sugars 30grams, Protein 5grams

Vitamin A 256%, Vitamin C 6%, Calcium 7%, Iron 14%

Quick Whip Raspberry Mini Pies

((I'm realizing I need a better camera. : / sorry about the fuzzy picture))

quick, easy, and refreshing!


....it was SUPER hot!! (obviously, the whip cream was wilting as I was trying to get a picture!) With the air condition broken a birthday cake for mom was not going to be on the menu, the alternative was a cold, fruity dessert ( A 350 degree oven to further contribute to the rising temperature in the house may have resulted in a heat stroke!) So, in the last minute I whipped together these individual pies. These are quick and easy. You can "short cut" or make them the "long" way (from scratch). Ill include both variations in the recipe.


Quick Whip Raspberry Mini Pies

3 Mini pie tins
1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs
((or you can buy the ready made mini graham cracker pie crusts at any local grocery. I went this route since baking the crusts would have been too hot.))
1 tbs butter, melted
.75 cups fresh raspberries
.75 cup heavy whipping cream
((if you're cheating ;p you can use 1/3 a container of cool whip, thawed))
1 packet of Otker Vanilla Sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice - optional

Preheat the oven to 350F (only if you're making the crust from scratch ; )

Stir the graham cracker crumbs and melted butter. Press to cover the mini pie tins and bake for 5-7 minutes until the crusts are crispy. (Be careful not to burn them since they are mini tins :)

With a fork "scramble" the raspberries in a bowl until they are mashed well. Stir in the lemon juice, if desired. Lemon, which is commonly paired with raspberries, lends a tart flavor. Set aside. (keep them in the fridge to keep cold.)

Whip the heavy cream with the whisk attachment on high speed until a light, fluffy texture is achieved. I reserved a couple of spoons full for decorating in the end.

With a spatula or spoon fold the Otker vanilla sugar and raspberry mixture into the whipped cream (or cool whip).

Spoon the raspberry whipped cream mixture into the pie crusts and store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. You can also freeze these pies for a few of hours and thaw them in the fridge about a half hour before serving. They will have a firmer texture (like a parfait or frozen yogurt).

I these minis with a dollop of reserved whipped cream, a fresh raspberry and a twisted lemon peal. Fresh mint leaves would be pretty too : )