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I debated whether I should count yesterday's printable as #4 in the pie series. I decided that I should, so this is #5. My husband loves Pecan Pie. I had never made it until he requested it one year, many moons ago. I was worried that it would be difficult, but it is actually one of the easier pies to make. Really! After the crust is ready, you can whip this thing up and have it in the oven in about 5 minutes.
I am not a big lover of nuts. If I have to have them, pecans are one of the ones I do like a bit. In pie, after it is baked, the pecans are tender rather than super crunchy. What I love about this pie is the custard filling that holds all of those pecans in place. I call it custard for want of a better word. It has eggs in it, like a custard, but no milk. It sets as it bakes, so it reminds me of custard. If it is called something else, please let me know in the comments. Over the years I have developed this recipe that really fills the pie. Some recipes that I have tried only seem to fill it half way. I like a big layer of that "custard". Since it is so full of the filling, it takes a little longer to bake and set, but it is worth the wait. Besides, the prep time is so short that once it is in the oven, you are free to do other things while it bakes. So, here is the recipe!
Just one warning, pecan is one of the most, if not the most fattening pies you can eat. Perfect for Thanksgiving!
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Before we get to today's pie, I promised to show you the blackberry pie from yesterday. It was so delicious. I am going to be a blimp by the time this pie series is over. What was I thinking? I need to sign up for Bulu Box! I keep shoving pie off on my son's friends. I am going to have to start giving them away. This blackberry pie was really a good idea because it tastes so good. I used some of the leftover blackberry juices to spoon over the ice cream on top. Here is a delectable slide show. Today's pie is a special one. I have been looking forward to sharing it with you. It is a recipe I have had for many years. When my husband and I were first married, I took second place in a pie baking contest with this pie. So of course, wouldn't you know that it is the pie that would give me trouble. It is called Upside-Down Pecan Apple Pie. It is the upside down part that gave me trouble. It tasted wonderful though, with caramelized pecans, ultra flaky crust and the apples were perfectly cooked. The only problem is it fell apart when I flipped it and I couldn't show you what a pretty presentation it has when it is served. I had to make another one today and I figured out a trick to get it to flip perfectly every time and I was able to get my pictures. While the second pie was good, it just didn't quite measure up to the first one. I think I pulled it out of the oven a little too soon which caused the apples to be not quite tender enough and the crust not quite flaky enough. I was nervous after the first pie and I blew it. But, the second pie did look beautiful, so between the two pies, I think I can give you good directions for making this wonderful pie. Don't let my struggles discourage you. Over all the years that I have baked this pie, this is the one time it has given me any trouble, and I am going to give you tips to solve the problems that I had. First of all, here is a picture of the finished product. Being organized in the kitchen will help you to be successful when you make this pie. You need a 9" pie plate to start. Spray the bottom of it with cooking spray, then line it with a circle of parchment paper cut to fit the bottom. Then, you spread 1/4 c. of butter over the bottom of the plate, on top of the parchment paper. Next, place the pecan halves into the butter in a design radiating from the center, rounded side against the plate. It will look like this. Now place the dish in the refrigerator until you need it again. The butter needs to stiffen up. Next, prepare your apple pie filling. I will give you the details for that in the printable recipe, but here is a gallery of how it works. While the filling cools for a bit in the pot, make a batch of the pie dough. The recipe is found here. Now it is time to pull the pie dish with the pecans out of the refrigerator. Spread 2/3 of a cup of brown sugar over the pecans and press down lightly. Now you lay the bottom crust over the brown sugar. Next, pour in the pie filling, dot the filling with butter and sprinkle on more cinnamon. Then put on the top crust. Remember to crimp around the edges. Also, the top crust is going to become the bottom crust, so you don't want to put big slits in it or all of the juices will run out when you flip the pie over. I put a few fork pricks in it to let steam escape. Your oven is going to be set at 450 degrees to bake this pie for the first 10 min. Then you turn it down to 350 for another 30 min. The crust was so good and the apples were so perfectly cooked and the pecans were tender and caramelized. I just couldn't get the presentation that I wanted and that is major impact of this pie. That is when I decided that parchment paper on the bottom was the way to go. Years ago when I started making this pie, I knew nothing about parchment paper! What a genius invention. It worked like a charm. Now I will give this pie its own slide show! So, what are you waiting for? Give this pie a try! Click the button to find the recipe. You may have guessed from this post and this one, that I really love blackberries. Lucky for me, they have been on sale for some really good prices lately! I decided that showing you how to make blackberry pie would be a great idea because making a fresh fruit pie is a special skill to have! When you work with blackberries you need to take extra care because they are a tender fruit. I always precook my fruits for fruit pies because:
My mom always taught me to put 3 three slits in the top of the pie to let the steam escape. I usually do that, but sometimes I feel like getting a little fancy, so on this pie I only put one slit to leave room for a some decorations. I used a straw to cut circles to form the blackberries. I used a little soft butter to stick them in place. Then, I used some of the reserved blackberry juice to add the color. I cut out the leaf and stem with a knife and just left them their natural color. Sprinkle the entire pie with sugar. It gives the top crust a little sweet crunch. Here it is fresh out of the oven, juices bubbling! It is too hot to cut right now. As a fruit pie cools, the juices thicken, then when you slice it the fruit won't all spill out leaving parts of the pie fruitless. When it is just warm, you can slice it and serve it with ice cream. The crust recipe is available here, or I will soon put it on the printables page. In our next post of the Pie Series, I will show you a picture of the blackberry pie sliced! We have a lot of great recipes to look forward to. I hope you are following along and planning to try some of them out. Remember, Cyber Monday and Black Friday are coming. I am posting some great gift ideas at the end of each of my blog posts. I hope you will click through and check them out!
Oh hey, it's me Alicia. I decided to do a post.
So, as you can tell we love Christmas in my family. But since it has not even been Halloween yet, people are not really keen on the mentioning of Christmas. So, alas, Christmas-lovers like ourselves must hide our love or endure endless scorn. ;) So, if you are like us, and love Christmas I have a treat that will please both types of people in your life. Yesterday I had a craving for gingerbread. I used to hate it when I was little but I love it now. An obstacle I had was I had no molasses, so I decided to look in my Winnie the Pooh Cookbook my Mom got me for Christmas. All the recipes use honey, and I knew that would work well for me, because I have honey. Sorry, I did not take pictures of the process, but this post is more about the decorating than the cookies. So find your favorite gingerbread cookie recipe and mix that up. Make sure to refrigerate your dough for at least an hour. After its chilled, it's time to cut it out. And that's where I had to be creative. I couldn't find my Halloween cookie cutters except a bat. So I made some gingerbread bat cookies.
Then I had to get creative. I used my gingerbread man cookie cutter to cut out some men. I decided to make them mummies! They turned out pretty cute. I like how there are gaps in the "wrapping" because I think it makes them look really old and raggedy like a mummy should look.
My last idea was to make little Headless Horsemen, the terror of Sleepy Hallow. To do this, I just used the gingerbread man cookie cutter along the edge of my dough, leaving the head part off the dough. After I had already done this, and baked them, I realized I should have cut them out with the heads and then used a knife to cut their heads off and put it on the hand. I could have decorated it like the pumpkin he throws at people. Oh well, you will have to try that and tell me how it goes. I did put red around their necks, is it blood? Or is it just an ascot type thing? You decide...
So you're probably saying to yourself, "Ok but why gingerbread? Why not just regular sugar cookies?"
Fair point, but there's just something about the spiciness of the gingerbread that works really well for the fall and Halloween. This cookie bites you back! (But in a sweet way). And if you think the chocolate and gingerbread is weird...It actually tastes really good together! Especially since it's cream cheese frosting. And the best reason is, it reminds the eater that Christmas is coming soon. ;) |
Creators of Hot Cocoa Bombs! (copyrighted)
Author
Helen Reynolds: Mother of six children , grandmother to eleven! I love to cook, craft and create things and I especially love doing that with my family, So, when my lawyer daughter, Lindsey, my artist daughter, Madalynn, and I came up with the idea of Hot Cocoa Bombs, this blog was born. Then, one more daughter, with her technical and science skills, plus creativity has joined in to round us out! Read more about us here! Archives
June 2024
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