not pie

 
After inquiring about the egg shaped wrinkly fruits on one farmer's table at the farmers' market I learned they were passion fruit. He opened one up and showed me the inside, it smelled wonderful! I immediately wanted to mix the fragrant sweet jelly with fresh strawberries and mangoes.

This recipe came together just from the desire for warm summer fruit pie with a scoop of ice cream but not wanting to make a crust and whole pie. So I used small casserole dishes and made two small crisps. To make a full crisp I would double this recipe.

Strawberry Mango Passion Crisp

Topping:
4 T granola (plain, honey or any flavor you would like to try)
2 T quick cook oatmeal
2 T brown sugar
1 T sugar
dash of fresh nutmeg
dash of salt
2 T chilled unsalted butter
1 T flour

Fruit:
1 1/2 baskets of strawberries (halved)
1 mango
2 passion fruits
2 T brown sugar
1 T sugar
1 T flour

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Choose 2 small baking dishes or one square or small pie plate.

Mix the ingredients for your topping all the way to butter, wait to use the flour at the end. Once you mix everything cut the butter into the mixture using a pastry cutter or two knives.

Mix the fruit in a separate bowl. To use the passion fruits cut in half with a bread knife and scoop out the insides to mix in with the strawberries and mango.

Scoop the fruit into your baking dishes. Toss the 1 T of flour from the topping list over fruit. Add topping mixture evenly on top.

Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes or until you see the fruit bubbling.

Cool for 1/2 hour and serve with a scoop of ice cream. These also refrigerate well and heat up in the oven the next day deliciously.

* * * 

I'm baking 12 unique pies in 2012, this is number 7. 

pie for days...

...sweet red, white and blue days

Strawberry Peach Straight from the Farmers Market Pie

Make your favorite pie crust, this is my favorite one.

4 or 5 ripe sweet smelling peaches, drop in boiling water for 1 minute, remove skins, then slice
2 to 3 baskets of strawberries, halved
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt

To get a nice golden brown to your crust mix 1 egg yolk with a splash of water and brush onto crust.

This can be an 8 inch or 9 inch pie. I like a very full pie so I made an 8 inch one.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine strawberries and peaches with sugar. Pour mixture into a strainer with a bowl beneath to catch juices. It can sit for about an hour. Stir occasionally.

Roll out dough. Place half into pie dish, leave edges hanging. Refrigerate for 15 minutes. Combine fruit with cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch mixing gently. Spoon fruit mixture into prepared pie dish. Roll out the other half of the dough and slice into 1/2 inch wide strips. Use the strips to create a lattice. Fold the bottom crust dough up and pinch all the way around tucking in the lattice edges, trim strips beforehand as needed.

Brush the egg mixture onto the lattice strips and edges.

Bake pie on bottom rack for 20 minutes. Then move to the middle rack and decrease temperature to 350 degrees. Bake until your crust is golden brown and the fruit is thick and bubbling, about 40 minutes.

I've set a goal to bake 12 new pies in 2012...this is number 6!


7.4 to 7.6
...

more please

Made with apricots picked from a dear friend's tree, her family has so many apricots this year she is up to her elbows making apricot jam and offered up several pounds to me to make pies. After a little research and planning I came up with a recipe I thought would do these little gems justice. It isn't everyday I get to make a pie from fruit that was literally picked within hours of baking.

Apricot Crumble They Were Falling into our Hands Pie

This recipe makes a 9 inch single crust pie, I use this very reliable, easy and delicious crust recipe. Just cut the crust recipe in half if you are only making one pie or make all of it and refrigerate the unused portion to use within two days. 

Fruit
2 1/2 T unsalted butter
3 pounds of apricots, pitted and quartered (leave the skins on)
1/2 cup sugar
2 T flour
lemon juice from half a lemon
pinch of salt

Crumble
1/4 cup unsalted butter at room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 uncooked oatmeal
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or almonds
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees, roll out dough and place into a 9 inch pie dish. Trim and flute your edges as desired.

For the crumble combine the butter and sugar in a medium bowl and combine with a fork or spatula. Add the rest of the crumble ingredients and mix with your hands. Set aside.

To make the fruit filling first combine the sugar, flour and salt in a small bowl. Then melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the apricots and cook, tossing and stirring for 5 minutes. Add the sugar mixture and continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes. The liquid will thicken and the apricots will soften. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and stir. Spoon the fruit into the pie shell. Sprinkle the crumble on top.

Bake for 40 minutes or until the juices are bubbling. Be careful not to overcook the crumble, just place a sheet of foil on top if it is already browned and you are still waiting for the juices to bubble while it continues to bake

This pie is full of flavor and very tart, a scoop of vanilla ice cream when served is the perfect balance.

I've set a goal to bake 12 new pies in 2012...this is number 5...onto the next.

found

Fragrant sweet juicy peaches from the farmer's market. Hooray! 

spring berry pie

Spring Berry Pie

pie crust, Martha's trusty recipe (you'll just need half for this pie)

1 1/2 to 2 pounds fresh strawberries
1 pound fresh blackberries
1/4 cup + 1 t cornstarch
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
2 T fresh lemon juice

Prebake your single crust in a 9" glass dish as you normally would and set out to cool.

Rinse berries and shake off excess water, use paper towels to collect water droplets, you'll want the berries as dry as possible.

Reserve about 1 cup of mixed berries in a separate bowl for garnish when serving.
Cut up half the remaining berries (leave blackberries whole) into thick slices or leave the small ones whole and set aside. With the final remaining whole berries, put them in a medium saucepan and crush with a potato masher or pie cutter. Mix cornstarch, sugar and salt then stir into stove top berry mixture. Stir until the cornstarch has completely dissolved. Cook over medium heat until the mixture darkens, thickens and begins to boil. Stir constantly and be sure to scrape the bottom and sides of the saucepan so it doesn't overcook (it will resemble jam and smell amazing when done).  Reduce the heat and cook gently for 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Let stand for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in blackberries and sliced strawberries and pour the mixture into the cooled pie shell. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours, the filling will softly set.

Prepare homemade whipped cream from your favorite recipe or use your favorite store bought and top with whipped cream and berry garnish when serving.



This is the pie that your loved ones will love you more for making it, its a perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. Enjoy!


...

first sunday in february pie

a flaky buttery crust holding a rich chocolate pudding like filling topped with walnuts and pecans baked right in

First Sunday in February Pie

pie crust, Martha's trusty recipe (you'll just need half for this pie)

3 eggs at room temperature
1 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sugar
2 t vanilla extract
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 cups walnuts and walnut halves (keep in large pieces)
3/4 cup pecans, whole or halves

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Roll out and set your dough into a 9 inch pie pan, trim and finish off edges. Place the pie pan in the 'fridge while you prepare the pie filling.

In a large bowl beat eggs until blended. Add corn syrup through butter until evenly mixed. Continue beating mixture and slowly add chocolate and beat until smooth. (To melt this small amount of chocolate I used a low setting on the microwave and patiently checked it so it didn't overheat.) Stir in the walnuts and pecans. Pour the mixture into the prepared pie shell. The nuts will naturally rise to the top, be sure to use a knife edge to separate if they clump in some areas.

Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 degrees and bake for 25 minutes longer. After the first 15 minutes if your crust edges are browned nicely you may want to cover edges with foil or a pie crust shield so they don't burn. 

Your pie is ready when the filling has puffed and when moved the center will jiggle slightly. Set out to cool for an hour or more. I recommend overnight, it tasted even better this morning than last night!

Serve with a whipped cream or ice cream.

I am thinking of making this pie for Thanksgiving, a fun twist on a pecan nutty pie. Yum!

...

a little procrastination

In 2012 I have decide to make twelve pies, pies I've never made before, maybe pies made up by me!
So with the last day of January looming over me yesterday I scrambled together a pie. It turned out so delicious that it just might be the best pie I've ever made...which makes me excited for the next 11!

Last Minute Apple Pear Pie

5 pink lady apples
2 asian pears
3/4 cup sugar
1 t cinnamon
1/4 t salt
1 t orange peel zest
juice from 1 lemon
2 T unsalted butter chilled, cut into tiny pieces
1 egg yolk

classic pie crust, I always make Martha's

crumble top, again I used Martha's expertise...I loved the idea of folding up about 2 inches of crust then having crumble in the middle

I prepared the apples and pears as I would for a regular apple pie but cut the pear slices thinner and smaller because I read they may take longer to bake through than apple slices. Stir in lemon juice as needed while cutting to keep the fruit from browning.

Mix together all of the dry ingredients then toss with apples and pears.

Lastly, stir in orange zest. Pile the mixture into the single pie shell, dotting with butter pieces. Mix the egg yolk with 2 T of water and brush onto the pie crust folded up on the edges.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Then sprinkle crumb topping in center and bake for another 30 minutes. You may want to cut a circle out of the middle of a folded piece of foil to lay over the outer crust while it bakes for the additional 30 minutes so you don't overbake your beautiful crust.

Be patient and let it cool for at least six hours before cutting into it!! Enjoy.


Leading up to the pie making day I spent a night in Las Vegas, finally got my slippers that were an exchange from Christmas and backordered (but worth the wait!) and cuddled Hermie a little extra since I was gone for those 38 some hours in Vegas.

1.28 to 2.1
...