Week #25 & #26 - Chocolate/Peanut/Caramel & Margarita

I'm finally getting back on track with the pie baking after several stressful weeks of pie baking too near to the last minute. I doubt that anyone who knows me well would say that I am an organized person, but I do not enjoy leaving things until the last minute either. Can't handle the pressure of a deadline, I suppose. So, finally, this week I made two different pies within a couple of days to get back on track.

Week #25 - Dark Chocolate, Peanut, Caramel

Technically, this is suppposed to be a tart. But, with 24+ weeks under my belt, I just figured I could make a few modifications and I would just have some little pies, right? Needless to say, if you follow this blog with any regularity, things did not turn out as intended. Do they ever for me?

First, this was by far the most complex recipe that I have tried to execute. There were all kinds of tools required, of which I had... none. And, there were a lot of steps to construct the different elements. The recipe includes some instructions for constructing the "shells" that I could not complete either, so I just thought I would throw individual crusts into their own ramekin and all would be well. It wasn't.

In the end, I would not even consider what I ended up with to be a pie (not even through my deluded eyes). The crust ended up being far too runny to roll into a crust. The consensus is that the lack of the proper stand-up mixer implements infused too much air into the mix and it was overmixed, so what I ended up with was basically tiny cakes covered with chocolate, peanuts, and caramel. You can kind of see in the picture below that this supposed pie ended up being just a layering of different elements on top of each other.

It ended up tasting okay, actually, but it was not a pie by any reasonable definition. Say it with me: "They can't all turn out."

Week #26 - Margarita

This one was a straight recommendation from a friend at work (including a link to the recipe; thanks, A.P.) and is a brilliant addition to the menagerie. I have this one ranked in the top five. It is easy to make and would be a refreshing, tasty summer pie. Plus, it has a nice tequila bite. What more could you ask for?

This is not the most beautiful in full pie state; the presentation is much more about individual slices. Nonetheless, here is the full pie.

And, a slice. Much cuter!

The simplicity of this recipe really allows the flavors to shine through. You can taste each individual component, the fresh-squeezed lime juice, the tequila, the whipped cream. And, the lime zest gives it a nice textural component. This is definitely one of my favorites. It did not last long at work either, so I apparently was not the only one who enjoyed it.

Oh, how I love the Martha! Convicted felon or not, makes no difference to me.

Time flies

This is becoming more and more of a blur, but the margarita pie makes twenty-six weeks. I can not believe that I am half way done already. Now, the fun should really begin as some local fruit starts to become available. Hopefully I have learned something over the past months and can produce some worthy pies over these next few.

It is should be a glorious summer of pie in our household!

Pie of the Week - Week #27

At today's pie fest at work, I heard this: "You know what is good? Bananas and peanut butter. Maybe throw a little chocolate in there."

So, next week the pie will combine those three elements in some way. I have some ideas and so I am leaning toward doing a little bit of invention. Should be fun.

Blame it on Tiger and Phil

What do you think? Is this the way Coconut Custard Pie is supposed to look?

Apparently I am going to stick with the "they can't all turn out great" theme for at least a little while longer. All was well with this recipe, at least until I got to the part about broil, about 3 or 4 inches away from heat, for two to four minutes. The pie even looked pretty good, if reminiscent of the custard pie that I did not have the palate to enjoy as much as the resident foodie.

The other recurring theme of this blog seems to be that I aint really good too many smarts. Enter Tiger and Phil.

I had to make a pie on the last day of the pie cycle this week, in other words on Saturday. I whipped up the usual crust and coconut custard pretty easily. The finishing touches were supposed to applied on Sunday, as based on the recipe "before serving..." That means it is quick and easy, right?

You would have thought so, but this was the juncture at which my lack of focus/intelligence kicked in. Hard.

But, really, who can resist a good final day at the Masters? And even more, a dual between Tiger and Phil? Ok, it didn't end up to be the day to remember that either one of them may have hoped, but the drama sure was fun while it lasted. What, you may ask, does this have to do with pie? Well, who can honestly be expected to pay attention to the broiling of pie topping when heavyweights are trading blows in high definition? Needless to say, do not expect it from me. The suggested two to four minutes turned into five. Which, as can be seen from the result, is long enough for the sugar/coconut mixture to ignite, but not long enough to run out of fuel. At least I got to see the flames!

So, not my finest hour as a pie baker. But, we were able to peel off some of the burned parts and still eat some of the custard. It wasn't too bad, but not quite fit for public consumption. As always, there's next week.

Also

I still have not made the dark chocolate, peanut, caramel pie that I have been blathering about for the last month. And so, I am still running six days behind the usual schedule. One of these weekends I have to make two to get caught up. Maybe this will be the weekend.

Whether I get caught up this weekend or not, the next pie on the list is by request once again: Margarita. This time, the request even came with a recipe attached. We shall see what Martha has in store.

Pie of the Week - Week #25

I searched high and low for an Easter pie or Passover pie, to no avail. Easter pie appears pretty universally to be a meat pie (banned as we all know, from this blog). Nothing at all from a quick search for Passover. So, it's on to any old pie after several weeks of requests and suggestions. I am going with Coconut Custard. No idea what that is going to be like, but seems like it's worth a shot.

For the first time, I am putting off this week's pie (Dark chocolate, peanut, caramel) until the end of the week, so I will be making that one on Saturday, and most likely this new coconut one on Sunday. Should be an Easter Sunday full of overindulgence.

Week #23 & #24 - Pineapple/Chocolate Angel

Obviously, the posts here over the past few weeks have been few and far between. Unfortunately, other things have taken priority over writing about my trials as a pie baker. Hopefully, I will get back on track starting now.

The past two weeks have seen a very conventional pie, although a unique flavor -- pineapple --and a very common flavor -- chocolate -- with a very unconventional twist.

The pineapple pie was a response to a request at work. In passing, pineapple pie was mentioned, and so it was added to the list of prospective pies and bubbled up to the top two weeks ago. I used the filling recipe here, along with the usual crust recipe to make the pie seen below.

I was very happy with the way this pie turned out. After several weeks of rich, heavy pies, I was excited to make something a bit lighter. I was also ready to give a double-crust pie another shot. This one did not disappoint, as far as I am concerned.

The most interesting thing in preparing the pineapple pie was turning a fresh, whole pineapple into something resembling a 20 oz. can of crushed pineapple. Originally, I thought that I would simply be able to run chunks through the food processor, but that results in pineapple purée. So, I puréed about a third of the pineapple and chopped up the rest and mixed them together. The result at least resembled crushed pineapple, and in the end made for a nice pie.

The Chocolate Angel pie was a recommendation from my mother, and the recipe can be found at the bottom of this page. The filling of this pie is pretty standard chocolate cream recipe. It seems as though I am making some variation of it every week, so it has become pretty standard. The crust is the real kicker with this pie, and I had not even considered it before.

You can see the odd, pale color in the picture.

It is still odd, but no longer surprising, when you see that the "crust" is actually meringue. It makes for a really sweet, but light, pie. I liked this version, but I am even more interested in trying something like it out with fresh berries this summer. I think it will make for a really tasty, light, summer pie. Of course, I still don't really know what I am doing, so I could be wrong. We will all find out together because I am certainly going to give it a try.

I have fallen behind on the posting of pie selections as well, so I will just slam this coming week's into this post. I have a request from home for a specific pie. I'll be posting further details after I attempt to make the excruciatingly long recipe this weekend, but it is dark chocolate, peanut, caramel. If it turns out, I have a feeling it won't be shared outside the walls of our home. Then again, even if it does not turn out, I have a feeling it won't be seeing the light of day.

Until next time...