Pear Pie

A few weeks ago, my mom had a dinner party (a "dinner party" for my mom means having one person outside of our immediate family over), and she requested that I bring a pie.  She specifically requested an apple pie, but I wanted to make something different for the blog (I haven't posted an apple pie yet because I have an ambitious and creative idea for that post that will probably never come to fruition, but I digress).  To please us both, I decided to make a pear pie.  I've read that it is similar to apple, and I have always wanted to make it.  I varied my apple pie recipe slightly, reducing the amount of the ingredients so that the pear flavor would sing.  I read a lot of comments on various food blogs that pear pie is indistinguishable from apple, but I think that is due to the fact that people were using too much cinnamon; consequently, I only put 1/8 teaspoon of cinnamon in this pie.  It turned out delicious - not too much like apple and with a bright pear flavor.  Mmmmmm.

As usual, I made my tried and true pie crust.  Then I gathered 8 unripe D'Anjou pears (most recipes call for Bosc or D'Anjou*), sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, butter, a lemon and an egg. The pears don't need to be ripe; in fact, unripe pears are fine. The harder the pears are, the longer it needs to bake. Completely ripe pears may become mushy when they bake, so I recommend using harder pears.

I peeled the pears like apples and sliced them into one-inch slices.

Then mixed the pears with 3/4 cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of flour and let it sit for 15 minutes, until it looked like this:

While the filling was resting, I rolled out the dough. 

And decided to do a single crust for the top rather than a lattice because I was feeling lazy. And before I covered the pie with the crust, I dotted it with 1 1/2 tablespoons of salted butter.

I had an idea to use this round cookie cutter to make a polka dot themed pie with circles around the edge and one in the center. As usual, it didn't turn out as pretty as I imagined.

And brushed it with egg whites.

Which helped smooth out the flaky crust.

Then I covered the edges and baked it at 425 for 30 minutes, then reduced the heat and baked it at 350 for an hour.  It came out with a nice golden brown crust:

Surprisingly, the pears turned pink when they baked; they looked very pretty.

Pear Pie

8 D'Anjou or Bosc Pear, unripe
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 tablespoons salted butter
Tried and true pie crust

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel pears and slice them into 1-inch thick slices. Mix in the remaining ingredients, except the butter. Let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roll out the dough and line a pie dish with it. Pour in the filling and dot with the butter. Cover with a pricked or lattice crust, brush the top with egg whites, and cover the edges of the pie with aluminum foil. Bake at 425 for 30-45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown. Reduce heat to 350 and continue baking 45 minutes to 1 1/2 hours, checking periodically until the pears are soft but not mushy (a fork should be easily inserted, but the pears slices should maintain their shape. Let stand at least 2 hours. Serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

* I made several pear pies this winter and got to compare D'Anjou to Bosc.  Both were good, but the Bosc pears were not quite as flavorful when baked.  Not to mention D'Anjou pears are less exepnsive and easier to find, so I vote for D'Anjou.

Enjoy!

How-to Tuesday: How to Make Meringue

This post is for you, Rebekah.  Because you're so bossy, you made me do it. 

Ok, ok.  Actually, you asked me what "soft meringue" means, which inspired me to write this post.  Then you reminded me to post it recently because I'm admittedly a slacker at blogging.  But I can't give you credit for everything - it was my clever idea to take a "Three Bears" approach to this post.  The idea here is to show you what meringue looks like in three states of being - too soft, just right (soft peaks), and too hard (stiff peaks, which are actually appropriate for many recipes, thereby ruining my children's book analogy, but I'm sticking with it).

You need eggs, vanilla extract, and sugar (superfine baker's sugar works the best, but regular granulated sugar is ok too; we're not all bakers!). 

First, separate 3 eggs. Typically, with cream pies, the yolks go in the filling and the whites can be set aside for the meringue.

Turn your mixer on high (7 or 8 on the amazing KitchenAid) and slowly add 1/2 a cup of sugar.

Then add 1/2 a teaspoon of vanilla as it mixes.  I kept a timer going as I mixed this.  There is no set amount of time before it sets up properly; just keep an eye on it.  After about 3 minutes, it looked like Elmer's glue.  Obviously, it was too soft.

Too soft: 

So I kept mixing it for an additional 3 minutes, until it looked like the dollop seen below. That is a soft peak. It is akin to marshmellow fluff, perhaps slightly softer.  It will form a peak when you press a knife against it or touch it with your finger, but the peak will collapse slightly when you let go.

Then I turned the mixer on high for an additional three minutes until it formed stiff peaks.  This is more akin to whipped cream in terms of how it holds its shape.  A stiff peak will not collapse when you touch it with a knife.

Here they are side by side:

Meringue:

3 egg whites

3/4 cup of superfine baker's sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Separate eggs and place egg whites in a stand mixer or bowl if using a hand mixer.  Beat on medium-high to high speed (I worked my way up from 6 to 8 on the KitchenAid mixer) until it starts to thicken.  Keep watching and checking periodically once it appears the meringue is thick and can be scooped without falling flat.  This can take anywhere from 3 to 10 minutes depending on the speed of your mixer.  There is no correct amount of time.  Press the flat side of a knife against the meringue and lift it away to form a peak.  If a peak forms but collapses slightly, you have made soft peaks; if a peak forms and holds its shape completely, you have made stiff peaks. 

Butter Crust

I have been biased against butter crust because it is difficult to work with, so I usually stick with shortening.  However, I got a wonderful gift - a marble rolling pin, which can be chilled prior to use, thereby making the dough easier to roll out. So I decided to give butter crust another shot because I think a more flavorful crust is preferable for bite size pies.  In taste tests like this one, butter crust wins the flavor contest.  Although, I think the methodology in this test is flawed because the crust was tasted alone, and crusts really should be taste tested with filling because pie is a marriage of flavors and textures, so no individual component should be judged alone.  Lawyerly enough for you? 

This is my tried-and-true pie crust but with 1 cup of butter rather than shortening.  In addition to the butter, you need 2 cups of flour, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon baking powder, 1 egg and a touch of water.

Mix salt and baking powder into flour with a fork.

And add 2 cold sticks of unsalted butter.

Then cut the butter in with a pastry blender.  If you do not have a pastry blender, you can cut the butter into half-inch cubes and pulse the mixture in a food processor.  I find it is easiest to press the pastry blender against the back of the bowl in order to break up the butter.

It should form an uneven mixture that resembles a coarse meal.

Then break one egg into a measuring cup and add cold water until it reaches 3/4 of a cup (this took a bit more water than my shortening crust). Whisk and add to the flour mixture.

And mix gently with your hands until it forms a ball.  It doesn't have to look perfect; you can use the plastic wrap to help form it into a ball.

A trick I learned from Martha Stewart Living (god, I hate myself for saying that) is to flatten the dough slightly after you wrap it up because that will allow it to chill faster.  Clever, Martha, clever.

After it chills for at least 3 hours, generously flour your surface.  Very generously.

And roll out the dough.  This rolling pin is amazing because it's heavy, so it's very effective.  The key with butter crust is not to handle it too much with your hands and work quickly, so it will stay cold.  It is more pliable and seems to break less easily than shortening crust.  (I might be a butter crust convert.)

Butter Crust

2 cups flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter

1 egg

about 1/4 cup of cold water

Mix flour, salt, and baking powder with a fork.  Break egg into a measuring cup.  Add water until it reaches 3/4 cup.  Whisk slightly, and pour over flour mixture.  Blend gently with your hands until it forms a ball.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.  If you want it to chill more quickly, flatten slightly and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.  

Favorite Pumpkin Pie

I am getting a little bit pumpkined out. But this post is for you, Mary E. - it's my family's favorite pumpkin pie. It's actually called "Favorite Pumpkin Pie" and is the first recipe in this cookbook my parents bought in the early 1980s:

Because this pie is perfect, we have never made it past the first recipe in this book. 

When I make pies that only have crust on the bottom, I often cheat by using these:

They are pretty good. Prebake the crust according to the instructions. Be sure to cover the edges of the crust when you prebake it because it tends to burn. 

Then cook a pumpkin like this, and put 2 cups of cooked pumpkin in a food processor.

Add 3/4 of a cup of sugar, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. Using pumpkin pie spice is not cheating, by the way. I've tried it both ways, and it tastes the same. But for your benefit, I'll put the breakdown of the spices below.

Blend.

Then add 1 cup of half and half as you continue to blend.

And add three eggs, slightly beaten. 

Blend until smooth.

And pour into your crust and cover the edges.

Bake at 400 degrees for 40-45 minutes, until a knife inserted off-center comes out clean.

Chill (best if chilled overnight). 


Favorite Pumpkin Pie

1 deep dish 9-inch pie shell, prepared according to instructions

2 cups cooked pumpkin
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice (2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, 1/4 tsp. ground cloves. I increased the amount of spices by 1/4 teaspoon to make it an even 3 teaspoons.)

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup half and half
3 eggs, slightly beaten

Combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt in a food processor and blend. Blend in half and half and eggs. Pour into pie shell. Bake in a 400 degree oven until knife inserted off-center comes out clean. Bake about 40 to 45 minutes. (Warning: this pie can take more than 45 minutes, so check it periodically after 40 minutes. It may take up to and hour and a half.)

Serve with canned whipped cream or make the spiced whipped cream seen here.

How-to Tuesday: Cooking Pie Pumpkins

Because I don't spend enough of my free time thinking about pie, I'm launching a new feature on my blog: How-to Tuesdays!  My cleverness knows no bounds.

I realize this whole blog is a how-to blog, but the idea behind this feature is to show all five of you readers how to do the seemingly basic but often complicated essentials. I have already written one post describing how to peel peaches. I have some basic how-to ideas queued up (how to make meringue; how to make a lattice crust; how to separate egg yolk from egg white) and some more advanced ideas (how to barter with pies; how to be prepared to bake a pie at the last minute for an apology/forgotten birthday/funeral/bribe; how to use pies and a wannabe witty blog in order to score lovely baking accessories from friends and family members). 

Having already admitted I'm a failure at blogging, I can assure you this won't be a weekly installment.  But I hope you will send me ideas - things you see in cookbooks that you don't understand or that you don't want to waste time trying, questions you have about all things pie related, etc. I have experienced a lot of baking failures over the years, as doubtless will continue, so I might as well document it for the benefit of people who read blogs at work.

So here is the first How-to Tuesday post - How to Cook Pie Pumpkins. This takes minimal effort and is definitely worth it; pumpkin pie is so much better with fresh pumpkins. 

Pie pumpkins come in a variety of sizes. The pumpkins in the back of this picture are on the large side, and the pumpkins in the front are the smallest pie pumpkins I've ever seen:

Tiny!

First, pierce the pumpkin all the way to the center in five or six places. One medium pumpkin is enough for 2 pies, containing about four cups of pulp. 

Then place the pumpkins in a 350-400 degree oven. If your pumpkins are like the tiny ones above, they will only need about 40 minutes at 350 because you don't want them to become mushy.  The pumpkins shown above are large - roughly 7 inches across, and I baked them at 375 for an hour.  No matter what size they are, check them after 40 minutes and every 10 minutes after that.  A knife should easily pierce all the way through to the center of the pumpkin at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom.

Once it is cool enough to handle, cut around the stem, then cut the pumpkin in half.  Scrape out the seeds and dark, slimy strings with a fork. 

You can easily cut the pulp out or peel it away from the skin. It's stringy, but don't worry about that.  It will get smooth in the food processor.

See how it can easily be scooped, but it's not overcooked?



My dad makes perfect pumpkin pies, and he prefers to microwave the pumpkins. He says to pierce the pumpkin 5-6 times all the way to the center and break the stem off (if you have the upper body strength or available male to do this), then microwave on high for five minutes. Then flip it over and microwave another five. Continue flipping it every five minutes. Depending on the size of the pumpkin, this can take 10 or even 20 minutes. 

Store the cooked pumpkin in an air-tight container. If you plan to use the pumpkin throughout the winter, fill freezer bags and press out all the additional air before freezing. The pumpkin will keep like this for months in the freezer. 

Bite Size Pumpkin Pies

Admit it - you're going to a Halloween party. You've been thinking about your costume for months.  You think you've figured out how to walk that line between cute and slutty, or - if you're a man - between nerdy and lame. (I am on the fence between a 60's style star trek ensign or a grotesque Alien/Prometheus themed costume with my dog bursting out of my fake bloody stomach.) And now you have to figure out what to bring. Here's an idea: bite size pumpkin pies. Before you scroll through the photos and decide these look too time-consuming, I will alert you that I put an easy alternative recipe with store-bought pie crust and canned pumpkin below (even though I refuse to use canned pumpkin).

You really don't need two pie pumpkins for this recipe. One medium pie pumpkin contains about 4 cups of pulp, which is enough to make 2 pies or about 48 bite-size pies. 

First things first; stab the pumpkin or pumpkins all the way through a la Garth when he is stabbing the donut cadaver in Wayne's World. Or not. Bake at 350 for about an hour, until a knife is inserted easily at the top, in the middle, and at the bottom of the pumpkin.   

Cool the pumpkin. The skin will peel off easily. Scrape out the pumpkin innards and discard (or make baked pumpkin seeds, which in my opinion is not worth your time, but whatever).

The cooked pumpkin has a stringy quality somewhat like, but not as pronounced as, spaghetti squash. 

Put 2 cups of cooked pumpkin in a food processor. Add 3/4 cup of sugar and 3 teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice.

Turn the food processor on, and add 1 cup of half and half.

Break 3 eggs into a bowl.

And beat them lightly, then add to the food processor until the filling is well blended. Don't worry if the filling has a more watery texture than you expected; it will be fine. 

Set aside.  Roll out the tried-and-true pie crust. (A butter crust would also be excellent for these.)

Roll out as much as possible. Make it slightly thinner than for a regular pie, less than 1/8 inch. If you're using store-bought crust, roll it out slightly.

And use a regular glass (that is about 4 inches in diameter or 30% larger than the mini muffins) to cut small crusts.

Butter a mini muffin pan or spray it with Pam, then press the disks into the pan so that the edge of the dough is even with the edge of each little cup. You may have to use additional pieces to cover the areas where the dough breaks. Don't feel bad if they look marred:

 Fill almost to the top with filling.

They will puff up considerably as they bake, but then flatten out a bit once they cool.

They don't look perfect, but they are yummy, fun, and good for a party.

Once they have cooled to room temperature, refrigerate for at least a few hours before serving.  Meanwhile, make spiced whipped cream, because you're fancy like that.

Put 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 1 cup of sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla into the mixer (or you can use a hand mixer or make your man whip vigorously). As it mixes, add a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice and a few additional dashes of cinnamon. Mix on high until it is firm, similar to the texture of Cool Whip or even firmer. Viola! Spiced whipped cream. 

Spread on the pie and enjoy.

Red nails - go Cards!

UPDATE:  I made these again for a Halloween party. This time I used butter crust and bought piping bags. I also added 1/4 cup of half and half to the whipped cream to make it smoother. The pies turned out even better.

I had enough dough and filling to make 2 dozen bite size pies and two mini pies (not pictured). This recipe should yield between 2 and 3 dozen bite size pies. 

If you think making these tiny pies is tedious, the same recipe below can be used to make one deep dish pumpkin pie (although, I will do a separate post on that too). 

Bite Size Pumpkin Pies (with pie pumpkins)

Make this crust.

2 cups cooked pumpkin (pie pumpkins, pierced and baked at 350 for 1 hour)
3/4 cup sugar
3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup half and half
1/4 teaspoon salt

Combine pumpkin, sugar, spices, and salt in food processor.  Blend in eggs and half and half.  Roll out dough to as thin as possible without breaking and cut into 4-inch in diameter disks.  Press into buttered (or sprayed with Pam) muffin tin.  Bake in 400 degree oven until knife comes out clean. (Bake about 40 to 45 minutes.)

Makes at least 2 dozen (and possibly more).  Best served cold.

Bite Size Pumpkin Pies (the easy way)

Individual pie crusts like these 

One 15 ounce can of pumpkin pie filling
3/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3 eggs, slightly beaten

1 cup half and half

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a large bowl, mix (with a spoon, whisk or hand mixer on low) canned pumpkin, sugar, eggs, half and half and salt until it is a smooth and even texture.  If you have a rolling pin, flour and roll the dough until it is slightly thinner (if not, that's ok) and cut into 4-inch in diameter disks.  Press into buttered (or sprayed with Pam) muffin tin.  Bake in 400 degree oven until knife comes out clean. (Bake about 40 to 45 minutes.)

Makes at least 2 dozen (and possibly more).  Best served cold. 

Spiced Whipped Cream

2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2-3 dashes pumpkin pie spice (to taste)

2 dashes cinnamon 

Mix the ingredients on medium-high speed until it resembles cool whip or the desired whipped-creamy texture.  If you find the whipped cream is too thick for you, add 2 tablespoons to a quarter cup of half and half as it mixes until it reaches the desired texture.  This will smooth out the whipped cream considerably.