Foodie Friday -- Molasses Bourbon Pecan Pie

Here is a pecan pie with a little bit of a twist.

Molasses Bourbon Pecan Pie

Crust:

1 ½ cups flour

¾ tsp. salt

6 Tbls. shortening

5 to 6 Tbls ice water

Filling:

¾ cup brown sugar, packed

¾ cup corn syrup

½ cup molasses

3 Tbls. butter

½ tsp salt

3 eggs, beaten

2 Tbls. Bourbon whisky

2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 cups pecan halves

In large bowl, combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Gradually add water, tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until easy to handle.

Roll out pastry to fit a 9-in. pie plate. Transfer pastry to pie plate. Trim pastry to ½-inch beyond edge of plate; flute edges. Refrigerate.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, combine brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses, butter and salt; bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, constantly stirring, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. (Mixture will thicken when cooled.)

When filling is cooled, stir in eggs, bourbon and vanilla. Stir in pecans. Pour into pastry shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 55-60 minutes. Cover edges with foil during the last 30 minutes to prevent overbrowning.

Cool on wire rack.

Tips & tricks:

·         The crust that came with this recipe was easy and quite good.

·         The molasses (Brer Rabbit—full flavor) that I used was pretty strong, overpowering in this recipe. If I made this recipe again, I would use ¼ cup of molasses and ¼ cup more corn syrup.

·         This recipe calls for pecan halves. The problem with pecan halves is that they are difficult to cut when you are ready to serve the pie. I would suggest chopping the pecans, but retaining a few halves to use as decoration on top.

·         If you have any pie leftover after cutting, then refrigerate the remaining pie.

 

Foodie Friday-- Walnut Streusel Pumpkin Pie

 

 I've been really busy making the various fillings for my Christmas candy. Fillings are finally made. Christmas decorations are up. And now, I can finally catch up on my blog posts before I start the candy molding process on Monday.

Walnut Streusel Pumpkin Pie

Pastry for single-crust pie (9-in.)

Pumpkin filling: 

 

1 can (15 oz.) solid-pack pumpkin

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk

½ cup sugar

½ cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 eggs

1 Tbls. flour

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp ginger

Cream cheese filling:

1-8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

¼ cup sugar

½ tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg, slightly beaten 

Topping:

¼ cup old-fashioned oats

¼ cup dark brown sugar, packed

2 Tbls. flour

¼ tsp. cinnamon

¼ tsp. nutmeg

2 Tbls. cold butter, cubed

¼ cup chopped walnuts 

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with pastry: trim and flute edge. Refrigerate while preparing filling.

In a large bowl, beat pumpkin, milk, sugars, eggs, flour, salt and spices until blended; transfer to crust.

In another bowl, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth. Add egg; beat on low speed just until combined. Spoon evenly over pumpkin layer.

In a small bowl, combine the first five topping ingredients; cut in butter until crumbly. Stir in walnuts; sprinkle over filling.

Cover edge of crust with foil to prevent overbrowning.

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees; bake 50-60 minutes longer, or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Remove foil. Cool on wire rack. Refrigerate covered, until cold.

Tips & tricks:

·         I got none. Sorry.

·        Okay, you can buy pie crust in the freezer section or you can make your own. I made a Pâte Brisée from a Martha Stewart recipe that I happened to have. Just google ‘pie crusts’ and you will get a plethora of selections.

·         If you do make your own crust don’t be afraid to add enough ice water. Yes, too much is a problem, but too little makes for a dry, crumbly crust.

·         The key is to have the fat in miniscule amounts that it causes a ‘mini-pocket’ to form from the melted fat when the crust is cooking. This helps the flakiness of the crust. Overwork the crust, or allow your hot hands to melt the fat pre-baking will result in a tough crust from the overworked flour.

·         I wasn’t much of a fan of this pumpkin pie, but then again, I’m not much of a fan of ANY pumpkin pies, which is why I usually try to make a pumpkin cheesecake!

 Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY-- Cranberry-Apple Pie

All-righty then! This recipe is originally from Bon Appetit magazine. I believe we made this recipe for Thanksgiving in 2010, AND again this year, because it is a nice autumn fruit pie/tart. During Thanksgiving, I didn’t even touch this recipe as my sis-in-law and nephew did all the work, BUT I made this for my hubby’s holiday work party last Tuesday. The only thing I did different from the recipe was to use a 2-inch deep tart pan (9-inches) instead of a pie pan. I liked heaping up the apple-cranberry filling and didn’t have to worry about overfilling and causing a mess if the juices went over the sides (they couldn’t--tart pan’s tall sides).

**I cut the apples a smaller than this-- ½ inch chunks**

Cranberry-Apple Pie

CRUST:

1 ¼ cups flour
1 Tbls sugar
½ tsp salt
¼ cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
¼ cup (½ stick) chilled butter, cut into small pieces
3 Tbls (or more) ice water

FILLING:

1 ½ pounds Granny Smith or other tart green apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks**
2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar
¼ cup flour
1 tsp. cinnamon

¼ cup sugar

2 Tbls flour
3 Tbls butter, melted, cooled slightly
1 large egg

White chocolate (< 1 oz., melted for drizzling), optional

Crust: Mix flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add shortening and butter, process using on/off turns until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 3 Tbls water. Process until moist clumps form. If dough is too dry, add more water by teaspoonfuls. Gather dough into ball, flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic; chill for 1 hour. (Can be made 3 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)

Preheat oven to 400° F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12-inch round. Transfer to deep dish tart pan with removable bottom. Trim crust and fold over making sides 1-inch high. Freeze 15 minutes.

Line crust with foil. Fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake 15 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until pale golden, piercing with fork if bubbles form, about 10 minutes. Transfer to rack and cool completely. Reduce oven temperature to 325° F.

Filling: Mix the first five ingredients in large bowl. Spoon filling into pie crust. Bake 30 minutes.

Whisk next four ingredients (sugar, flour, butter, egg) in small bowl to blend. Pour mixture over filling. Bake until apples are tender and filling begins to brown, about 1 hour. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Tent pie with foil and store at room temperature.)

Drizzle with white chocolate in decorative pattern, if desired.

Enjoy!

FOODIE FRIDAY--Crustless Apple Pie

To go along with the theme of my inability to make crust (very sad, but true because my mother was a premier pie crust maker), I will post my mom’s recipe of Crustless Apple Pie. I will confess that this is one of my fall back recipes if I happen to have some apples that are getting a little old and grainy. Feel free to add more apples, but remember to adjust the cinnamon and sugar to your taste.

Crustless Apple Pie

3 apples

¼ cup sugar
½ tsp. cinnamon
½ cup water

Streusel:
3 Tbsp. shortening
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup flour
½ tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. salt

Peel and core apples, cut in quarters and cook about ten minutes with cinnamon, sugar and water. Place in greased casserole. Sift dry ingredients and add shortening and brown sugar. Mix with hands and sprinkle over apples. Cook about 45 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Enjoy!