National Pie Day - Week #14

As advertised, I force-fed two pies to my co-workers on National Pie Day. Hopefully they were not all forced, but I did end up peddling the last few pieces in the hallway after our scheduled "meating." You never know for sure around here where Minnesota Nice runs rampant, but both pies seemed to be well received and I would venture to say were enjoyed by all. Although I did offer a slice of banana cream pie to someone who is allergic to bananas, there were no known casualties. That has to count for something.

Banana Cream Pie

Crust

This pie had a strikingly unique crust recipe. It was certainly new to me. The key differentiating component was the fact that there was about a half of a banana smashed up and included in the graham cracker crust. Prior to baking (and even after baking), this made it considerable more moist than other crumb crusts I have worked. And, the end result was a pleasantly chewy crust underneath the custard filling. I, for one, loved that aspect of the pie and thought it made it really stand out.

Filling

Ever the novice, I assumed that a banana cream pie must have banana flavored something in the custard/pudding that made up the bulk of the filling. As such, I was very surprised to find that this pie had nothing of the sort. Somewhere in my head, I think I was imagining a Jell-O pudding "banana cream pie." Having now made and eaten this from-scratch version of a banana cream, I assure you that the quotation marks in the Jell-O version are well warranted. It would be difficult for me to go back now and call a flourescent yellow, pudding filled, frozen pie crust a banana cream pie. This, undoubtedly, was what our founding fathers intended when they first dreamed of National Pie Day.

The only modification that I made to the recipe was a concession to what might be called frugality, but in my case might better be described as being cheap. I could not bring myself to spend the money on a genuine vanilla bean. Having found this article, in which the author claims that even my favorite snobs at Cook's Illustrated don't object to substituting extract, I just made the substitution and lived with the consequences. I am sure that there is a palate out there capable of discerning the difference, but it is not mine. So, extract it is. The only other thing that I was really very worried about was the condition of the bananas that I used. I tend to like green bananas to eat, but I knew that the flavor of this pie would be better served by using ripe bananas. I spent a laughable time in the produce section of the local Cub Foods trying to differentiate between various shades of green and yellow. Believe me, this is no mean feat for someone who is color blind. But, despite this -- yet another in my long list of inadequacies -- the bananas that ended up in the pie were just about perfect. Not too green, yet not too ripe and mushy.

Here's an overhead shot of the banana cream pie (note the highly creative banana slice pattern on the top. Inspiring, huh?)

And, a cool shot (thanks jp for this and the following semi-professional photos) of a slice. You can see the layers of banana and custard. My mouth is watering just thinking of it. If yours isn't that is just because you weren't there. I am telling you...

Chocolate Cream Pie

Crust

The usual. No modifications, other than going back to the metal pie plate. I won't be going back to the glass for the pastry crusts. This turned out as expected, unlike the last two in the glass plate, neither of which I was happy with.

Filling

Who knew? I suppose I should have, but I did not know that Walmart would have pie recipes. They have everything else, why not pie? In this case they even had a recipe good enough for the chocolate fiends at work (and at home). I accidentally ran into this recipe, and after looking at it, I was really glad that I did. It is very simple, is built on a pastry crust, which seems to have become my passion in this pie-making escapade, and sounded like it would taste like chocolat, chocolate, and nothing but chocolate. That is what the choco-philes in my life love. Do not dilut with any extraneous flavors!

The filling was as easy to make as it sounds from the instructions. I did not use the microwave, but used a DIY double boiler with a pyrex bowl over water boiling in a sauce pan. The melting and mixing process went fine with that setup. I knew from previous experience that it was important to let the chocolate mixture cool sufficiently before attempting to fold in the whipped cream. With that knowledge in hand, the recipe was really simple to implement. I probably spent as much time waiting for things to cool down as I did actually making the pie. This would have been a good pie to make earlier in my journey, although I was able to make a much better crust now than I ever could have then.

An artsy shot

And, a good shot of the decadent truffle-bottom. I found that to be a nice touch that didn't really add any significant complexity, but gave it a nice visual and textural constrast.

Since this one turned out so well for work (and it was relatively easy to make), I ended up making a second chocolate cream pie over the weekend. Half of it was eaten by our family (I am not a big chocolate fan, but I enjoyed a slice anyway) and the other half was delivered to some friends of ours who are expecting twins in the spring. It is vital to get those kids started out on the right foot in terms of nutrition. It is never too early, and I am glad to have contributed. I hope that they enjoyed it.

Until Wednesday, do not forget to indulge in the four food groups.

1. Candy,
   
2. Candy Canes,
   
3. Candy Corn, and
   
4. Syrup
   

And, keep eating pie, it must fit in there somewhere...

UPDATE: The Chocolate Cream recipe linked above is no longer available. The same recipe (copyright issues?) can now be found here.