When a Pie becomes a Tart

 

This pie is more like a danish, or tart.

Compare it to when a pizza goes square. 

I love having guests at my place, people driving in for the weekend even when the Bay Area is freakin' cold and damp. Recently the weather was calling for comfort breakfast-anytime-you-want food again, so I made an Apple Tart with Apricot syrup drizzle.

It was so good I made it again the next day and improvised more.  Better the 2nd time around!

Using a pre-made puff pastry made the day before or from the freezer, fresh peeled organic fruit slices, a vanilla, milk and egg custard to make pastry cream, apricots and lemon juice, this one is pretty artistic too!

Valentine Apple Crisp

a quick step from pie ... this is so good for a cold mid-February night, and if you want to you may call it 'Lovers' Apple Crisp'.

...because it's 2 of everything: 2 personal size pie dishes, 2 scoops of vanilla ice cream on top.

2 cups of quick cooking rolled oats, with butter make the crust.  2 Apples, 2 Eggs, 2 splashes of vanilla, and so on.  Cinnamon, Brown Sugar, Milk, butter.  Drizzle local honey on top, or maple syrup.  Make as sweet or saucy as you like, and then bake for 45 minutes, at 350ºF after adding a little more rolled oats on top.

Move over, Cupcakes...

If you have been following the news lately, you are aware that year of The Pie has arrived.  (If they say it on NPR, it might even be true.) This is the year where Pie is preferred.  And, in celebration, The Pie Blog wants you to know that we are expanding this year to include tarts, personal pies and mini pies (as described in the previous article).  Actually, we never leave a pie behind.  (Except the one that Puppy ate off the countertop, Thanksgiving 2009.)
The Pie Blog (a.k.a. Wannabe Pie Chef) was created in 2007 to celebrate pies, pie thoughts, and stories of pie and photography along the way.  Your non spammy comments are generally welcomed and appreciated, along with any inspiring pies that might meet our criteria for the coming year!

Bring on the 2011 Pies!

 Here it is, 'With an Eye on the Pie', it's 2011 and the First Pies of the Year are up.  These are Elisa's New Year Personal Apple Pies.  Beautiful and delicious on a cold winters' New Year Eve!  She got the light flaky crust perfected and fed over 50 people their own personal delicious mini apple pie at the stroke of midnight. Definitively the best of the spread.  I can say I saw more than one guest have more than one.  The Year of the Cupcake is over - It's Time For Pie!  Thanks to those pie supporters for keeping the Pie Blogger Motivated and cookin'.  Stay tuned for more winter specialties!

Doing the Gingersnap Dance

Another Thanksgiving, the time has come to turn over a new leaf.  Sweet potato pie with a Gingersnap-Pecan crust.  Here's the thing, the crust is made like a giant cookie, ahead of time.  Then after it cools and hardens, the sweet potato pureé with rum goes in, and you have a great, not too sweet pie.   Then, cool it again, and toast it later, you have an AWESOME pie. 

You can find the ingredients and instructions on the Gourmet magazine site.  It needs nutmeg and about 1/4 c more sugar than what they say.  Another tip - reheat after cooling, and it's just so much more delicious because the crust becomes a bit like a ginger rum cake, dependent on how much rum you happen to put in.  (Be warned, don't overdo that, even if you are a really authentic pirate, because if it doesn't cook through, you will have a poor, soupy consistency.  That's bad.)

Uncle Marcus and Uncle Max tried this right away with vanilla ice cream.  A million kids were present and none of them wanted to try any of the pies that came from any of the guests.  They were only interested in ice cream. 

Do all kids hate pie?  One of my nephews insisted, 'yes.'  So I had only Uncle Marcus to judge, because I don't really think Max would be honest but Marcus would...and it was his kindness or his eating two more pieces, that I decided it was awesome.  Not a pie for kids, though. 

"If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe."

Seated before an apple pie in a elegant dining hall, these are the words of the great Carl Sagan.

Carl Edward Sagan was an american astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, and made astronomy very popular.   

Was he also a pie chef?

An average apple pie slice cut 90 times ends up being about one atom.  Sagan slices the pie.

"Crumbly, but good." ... I noticed he was missing the vanilla ice cream.  Really necessary with the apple pie in my humble opinion.

So many varieties of apple pie...and now is the time.  Remember your best apple pie ever.

Coming soon: Cosmos Apple Pie!

Jewel Yam Pie

Organic Jewel Yam and Maple Pie

This is my own preparation, and I usually just eyeball the quantities, and attempt to leave butter and white sugar out of it.  This cuts down dramatically on calories, etc.  ...if it's gonna be a pie, you do need a pre-made pie shell, which you can make by many other expert recipes or by buying (lard-free if possible) at the store.  I am using a smaller 9 inch vegetarian pre-made shell made at the local grocery this time.

Gather:

2 big beautiful ruby colored organic Jewel Yams: boiled until soft and the skins peel off easily, and then mashed until very smooth. By hand-masher or fork is fine.
1/3 c plain greek organic yogurt
1/2 c organic vermont maple syrup, less if you like your pie more savory. 
1/3 c golden-brown choice sugar
4 large and local egg whites, whisked into a froth (not as many if you decide leave the yolks in).
1/4 teaspoon natural vanilla

Spice mixture: 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, and a dash of cloves and nutmeg, a pinch of sea salt.
Ginger is a nice addition, as yams and ginger have a centering, balancing and harmonious nature when put together.  Fresh ginger or dried, (a pinch will do) it's up to you.

Preheat your oven and blend all of these ingredients together.  Pour the mix into a standard 9" pie dough, smooth out into the shell and bake for 20 minutes at 400°F.
Remember to then reduce your oven's temperature to 350 and then let this pie bake for 35-50 minutes.  You may need to check on it (fold foil over the pie crust to keep from over-crisping if necessary) and stick a toothpick in, when it comes out clean, you have a Jewel Yam Pie to set up on a wire rack for a few minutes at least before you try to cut into it...  Served hot or cold, and not too sweet...really good for breakfast the next day.  That seems to be a large part of how I rate a pie, anyway: if it's good for breakfast, it's a champion.

To be a good host you can add whipped cream but I like this pie 'casual' and edible anytime.  It's less sugary sweet than other recipes that you will find - light comfort food as we come into Autumn.