Frozen Rainbow Pie

The original recipe of Frosty Lime Pie comes from a Company's Coming cook book.  Obviously my amazing husband tweaked a few things.

FILLING
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup lime juice
1 tsp (or more) grated lime rind
1 egg white, room temperature
1 cup whipping cream
2-4 drops food coloring

Beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth.  Beat in egg yolk.  Add lime juice and rind; mix in slowly.  In a separate bowl, beat egg white with clean beater until stiff; fold in.  Using the same separate bowl and beaters, beat cream until stiff; fold in.  Add food coloring.  Pour into prepared pie shell and freeze.  Let thaw approximately 15 minutes before serving.

CRUST
1/3 cup butter
1 1/4 cup graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
(for chocolate crust add 3 tbsp cocoa)

Melt butter.  Add crumbs and sugar.  Press evenly on bottom and sides of 9 inch pie plate.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.  Cool.


Now if you look at the picture you'll notice that it isn't just green.  Aaron always has to take things one step further.  He took the exact same recipe and divided it into thirds, making layers of lemon, orange and lime.  It is difficult to divide an egg yolk into thirds, but possible.  When pouring into the crust, wait an hour between layers.  And we topped it with whipped cream with raspberries or strawberries mixed in (raspberries blend much better when whipping the cream).

Note: We have tried this with a regular pie crust, but it tends to thaw too slowly compared to the filling making it difficult to slice.  The graham cracker crust is a wonderful compliment and is amazingly easy to make!

Pumpkin Mousse and Gingerbread Pie

What started as a delicious cookies and dip combination turned into an amazing pie.  Lots of compliments and requests, so here it is. 

GINGERBREAD (two pie crusts and then some)
-Cream together 3/4 cup butter and 7/8 cup brown sugar.
-Stir in 1 tsp lemon zest, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, and 1/2 cup molasses.
-Gradually beat in 2 eggs.
-Sift together 3 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp ginger, 2 tsp allspice, and stir into everything else.
-Refrigerate for about 30 minutes to firm it up before rolling it out. For cookies: cut out shapes, bake at 375 for 10 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. For pie: roll out and place in a greased pie plate, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes.

PUMPKIN MOUSSE (enough for two pies)
-In a saucepan, stir together: 1 15 oz can of pumpkin (1/2 of one of those large cans), 1 cup heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 3/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg. (I accidentally put it 2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice, plus some ginger, and it worked great.)
-Bring to a gentle simmer, stirring frequently for five minutes.
-Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 tsp vanilla.
-Chill for at least one hour.
-Whip 2 cups chilled heavy cream into stiff peaks. Gently stir in half the pumpkin mixture until fully incorporated before folding in the remaining mixture. Chill.
-For pie: pour into the baked pie shell and refrigerate overnight (to stiffen up the mousse). If in a hurry, put it in the freezer for 45 minutes.

Minny's Chocolate Pie

After seeing the movie The Help a few weeks ago, I was craving a chocolate pie. I know, I know...the chocolate pie is supposed to gross you out, but maybe it's the pregnancy thing. Anything chocolate -- especially fudgy-chocolate -- sounds divine. I went in search of a chocolate pie recipe, and after some searching, I found the gem below. It's the actual recipe used by the food stylist from the movie. I've made it twice now, and it's quick, easy, and tasty. I have yet to go at the whole thing with a fork, but I do have eight more weeks of pregnancy left, and I'm not saying no to anything!

1 1/2 C sugar
3 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 C butter, melted
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
1 5 oz. can evaporated milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 refrigerated pie crust (or...I got REALLY bold and made my own!)

1. Place pie crust in a 9-inch pie plate and prick the bottom and sides with a fork.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Mix sugar, cocoa, and butter in amixing bowl.
4. Add eggs and beat for three minutes.
5. Add salt, milk, and vanilla.
6. Pour filling into pie shell and bake for 35-45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and middle is partly set.
7. Cool completely, then refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream.

A few notes:

• I had the best success making the entire thing with the whisk attachment on my Kitchenaid. It seemed to hit the perfect consistency. If I did it by hand, I got a lot of bubbles that kept the pie from being as pretty as it could be.


• Also, let the pie cool COMPLETELY before trying to put Saran wrap over the top; otherwise, the top layer will stick to the wrap. If the pie is cool first, it will peel off easily -- no sticking!

lemon pie

Made this tonight for dessert - it's another new one for me, but I'm not counting anymore. It's very tangy - if you don't like lemon, you probably wouldn't like this. I do like lemon, and I loved this!

15-oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 egg yolks
3/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed = about 6 lemons. I used the little bottle things and it took about almost 2 full ones.)

graham cracker crust - either store bought or homemade

1. Mix the condensed milk and egg yolks with a hand-held mixer at medium speed until the mixture lightens, about 3 minutes.
2. With the mixer running, pour the lemon juice in slowly until it's entirely incorporated.
3. Pour into graham cracker crust.
4. Bake on center rack of oven at 350 for 20 minutes or until it's completely set.
5. Let cool for at least an hour before eating.

We ate it with vanilla ice cream. The pie would go great with a meringue, which you could use the egg whites for after separating the yolks. I was a klutz and broke one of the yolks in the whites, so they were no good for the meringue and I dumped them.

banana cream pie from scratch

Number 40 was a banana cream pie from scratch. Last year, I got pretty turned off by the "banana cream pie" made from a box of vanilla instant pudding so I wanted to try it from scratch this year for Thanksgiving. I actually did this as a test-run a couple of weeks before for a couple of the missionaries who were transferring the next day. It turned out great! We're never going back to the boxed instant pudding junk for this!

Old fashioned banana cream pie

Some notes ...

1. The recipe says to scald the milk - I looked it up and basically, you heat the milk in a saucepan stirring constantly until just before it boils, and immediately remove it from the stove.

2. I mixed an entire banana mashed into the filling before pouring it over the sliced bananas in the crust. This was suggested in the comments, and it added to the banana flavor.

3. I put it in a regular pie crust. We think it would be better in a graham cracker crust.

4. If you have shallow pie plates, this makes enough filling for 2 pies.

Pie Crust

Everyone needs a good pie crust recipe! There are so many meals that can be made using pie crust. :-)

Pie Crust

For a 9-inch single-crust pie:
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour, divided
½ teaspoon salt
2 ½ tablespoons ice water
½ cup Crisco© or other good shortening
For a 9-inch double- or lattice-crust, just double this recipe.

Preheat oven to temperature for pie recipe.

Put the Crisco in a medium bowl. Over it, pour 1 cup of the flour and the salt, reserving 1/4 cup flour. With your pastry blender (some old timers use a fork), cut the flour and salt into the Crisco until the mixture resembles coarse meal.

Combine the reserved 1/4 cup of flour with the 2-1/2 tablespoons ice water (estimate, or, if you must be exact, a half tablespoon equals 1-1/2 teaspoons) in a cup to make a smooth paste. Pour the paste over the pastry mixture and continue cutting in with the pastry blender until incorporated. Remember, the less you work the dough, the lighter and flakier the pastry.

Form the pastry into a ball, flatten and roll between sheets of waxed paper (you may see little veins of Crisco here and there, but that's okay) to a thickness of about 1/8 inch and 1-1/2 to 2 inches wider than the pie plate.

Peel off the top piece of waxed paper, invert a 9-inch pie plate on dough surface, and turn the sheet of dough and the pie plate over. Center the dough on pie plate, if necessary, and peel off the second sheet of waxed paper (tear off in pieces, if you like). Fit the dough into the pie plate without stretching it. If the dough tears a little, just pinch it back together.)

Trim the dough to overhang the edge of the pie plate by about 1-1/4 inches, then turn under to make an edge. You can put a fancy crimp in the edge at this point, if you wish.

Pre-Baked Pie Shells:
For a pre-baked pie shell, prick bottom and sides of pastry with a fork to avoid bubbles developing, and bake in a 425°F oven for 10 to 12 minutes until the crust is lightly browned.

Creamy Pumpkin Tart

I know this will be a long post, and a lot of effort, but its so good it is totally worth the effort. Absolutely fabulous!

CREAMY PUMPKIN TART

Butter Cookie Dough (1 disk, at cool room temperature) - see following recipe
2 Eggs
¾ cup Dark Brown Sugar (6oz/185g) firmly packed
2/3 cup (5 fl oz/160 ml) heavy (double) cream
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoons Ground ginger
¼ teaspoon Salt (kosher preferably)
1 can (15oz/470 g) Pumpkin Puree
Whipped cream for serving

Serves 8

1. Partially bake the crust
Put the dough disk between 2 large sheets of parchment paper and roll out into 12-inch (30 cm) round ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Fold the dough round in half and transfer to a 10-1/4 inch (26 mm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Unfold the round and ease into the pan, patting it firmly into the bottom and up the sides. Trim the edges to form a ½ inch (12 mm) overhang. Fold the overhang back over itself and press it into the sides of the pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (190 C). Line the crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue to bake until set and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (180 C).

2. Make the filing
In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and brown sugar until smooth. Whisk in the cream, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, and salt until smooth, about 1 minute. Whisk in the pumpkin until blended. Pour the filing into the partially baked crust.

3. Bake the tart
Bake until the filling looks set when you give the pan a gentle shake, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack until the top feels cool to the touch, about 1 hour. Remove the tart from the pan. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate until cold. Cut the tart into wedges and serve each wedge topped with whipped cream, if desired.

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BUTTER COOKIE DOUGH:
3 cups All Purpose flour
2 ½ cups Cake flour
1 ½ tsp salt (kosher preferred)
2 ¼ cups unsalted butter
1 Tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract

1. Make the dough
Sift together the all-purpose flour and cake flours and the salt into a bowl. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, beat together the butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the flour mix and mix just until a moist dough forms. Form the dough into three equal disks and wrap separately in plastic wrap. Chill 1 disk until firm, about 45 minutes, and store the remaining 2 disks for future use.

Storage Tip
You may store the dough disks, wrapped tightly in plastic, in the refrigerator for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for up to 1 month. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight and soften at room temperature. You may also roll out a disk, line a tart or pie pan, cover tightly with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight, or freeze for up to 1 month. It can go directly from the freezer to the oven.

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With the extra dough you can make BUTTER COOKIES

The only extra ingredient you need is 8oz Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Make about 30 cookies

1. Cut out the cookies
Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out 1 dough disk ¼ inch (6 mm) inch thick. Using a 2-inch (5 cm) round cookie cutter, cut out the cookies. Transfer them to the prepared sheets, spacing them about 1 inch (2.5 cm) apart.

2. Bake the cookies
Bake until the cookies are golden, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate at 10-second intervals in the microwave until smooth and melted, stirring often. Dip one half of each cookie into the chocolate and return to the rack, allowing the chocolate to set. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days.

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If you want to use the third disk, you can also make LEMON TART WITH RASBERRIES

Butter Cookie Dough (1 disk, at cool room temperature)
2 Eggs
2/3 Cup (5oz/155g) sugar
12 oz (375 g) Cream cheese, at room temperature
½ cup (4 oz/125 g) Sour Cream
2 teaspoons, finely grated Lemon zest
Lemon juice, from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon Pure Vanilla Extract
1 carton (about 6 oz/185g) Raspberries

1. Partially bake the crust
Put the dough disk between 2 large sheets of parchment paper and roll out into 12-inch (30 cm) round ¼ inch (6 mm) thick. Fold the dough round in half and transfer to a 10-1/4 inch (26 mm) tart pan with a removable bottom. Unfold the round and ease into the pan, patting it firmly into the bottom and up the sides. Trim the edges to form a ½ inch (12 mm) overhang. Fold the overhang back over itself and press it into the sides of the pan. Freeze for at least 30 minutes but preferably overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (190 C). Line the crust with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and weights and continue to bake until set and lightly golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees (180 C).

2. Mix the filing
In a food processor, combine the eggs and sugar and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the cream cheese, pulse to break it up, and then process until smooth, about 15 seconds. Add the sour cream, lemon zest and juice, flour, and vanilla, and process until just smooth, about 20 seconds. Pour the filing into the partially baked crust.

3. Bake the tart
Bake until the top looks firm and is set when you gently shake the pan, about 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool, about 1 hour. Remove the tart from pan. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 3 hours or up to overnight. Spoon the raspberries on top of the tart just before serving.

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*also, this dough makes great basic sugar cookies for kids to cut out with cutters and decorate. Holds up to a lot - like birthday parties (we've had lots of experience with it).

cream cheese pumpkin pie

We made these 2 pumpkin recipes recently because we were trying to use up the pumpkin in our freezer. This was a new recipe that we found online, but Adam made it so it doesn't count for me. We were getting bored (there's that bored again) with our standard pumpkin pie recipe, and this is the 2nd one we tried. The first one, which we did at Christmas, was a sort of custard rather than the more solid pumpkin filling, but we were indifferent about it. This one, we liked a lot better.

9 inch pie crust

CREAM CHEESE BASE
8 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in other ingredients until light and smooth. Chill mixture for 30 minutes, then smooth into bottom of the pie crust.

Make sure the base is VERY chilled and firm when you put it in the pie crust. We didn't get it firm enough, so when we added the pumpkin filling, the cream cheese floated to the top. It meant we had a pumpkin cheesecake-type pie, which was good but not how it was supposed to be.

PUMPKIN FILLING
1 and 1/4 cups pumpkin puree - we used fresh that we mashed up and froze last fall, but you could use canned as well
1 cup evaporated milk
2 eggs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt

Mix thoroughly until all ingredients are combined.

Pour the pumpkin mixture over cream cheese layer in pie shell. Cover edges of crust with aluminum foil to prevent excess browning.

Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove foil from edges and bake an additional 25 minutes.

PECAN TOPPING
2 tbl flour
2 tbl brown sugar
2 tbl butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Combine. After pie has been in oven for 50 minutes, remove and sprinkle pecans over the top. Bake for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean and pecan topping is golden.

We tried to do the pecan topping, but it was very gloppy with the butter and certainly didn't "sprinkle." So we skipped it. Next time, maybe we'll just put a few pecans over the top for the last few minutes.