Apple Cider Cream Pie

I made this quite a while ago for my supper club.  It was a lovely fall flavored pie and definitely something a little different.  I had some issues with the crust, it got quite over-baked despite covering it with tin foil, but the apple cider vinegar gave it a nice tart flavor anyways.

The reduced apple cider custard filling is amazing, I could have eaten it on it's own.  But with the addition of the lovely cinnamon spiced whipped cream the whole pie is delightful.  The pie does take some time, but if you're looking for a change to the usual holiday pies try this one out!

Apple Cider Cream Pie
from Food and Wine

Crust:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice and chilled
3 tablespoons cold milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar


Filling:
2 cups apple cider
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

In a food processor, combine the flour, cornstarch, sugar and salt. Add the butter and pulse in 1-second bursts until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Combine the milk and vinegar and drizzle it on top. Pulse in 1-second bursts until the dough just comes together. Turn the dough out onto a work surface, gather up any crumbs and pat into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.

On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to an 11-inch round, a scant 1/4 inch thick; ease it into a 9-inch glass or ceramic pie plate. Trim the overhanging dough to 1 inch and fold it under itself. Crimp decoratively and chill the crust until firm, about 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 425°. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans. Bake in the lower third of the oven for about 15 minutes, until the crust is barely set. Remove the parchment and pie weights. Cover the edge of the crust with strips of foil and bake for about 15 minutes longer, until the crust is just set but not browned. Press the bottom of the crust lightly to deflate it as it puffs; let cool. Lower the oven temperature to 350°.

In a medium saucepan, boil the cider until it's reduced to 1/2 cup, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool. Whisk in 3/4 cup of the sugar, the sour cream and salt, then whisk in the eggs.
Pour the custard into the pie shell without removing the foil strips. Bake the pie in the lower third of the oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until the custard is set around the edge but the center is slightly jiggly. Let the pie cool completely.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the heavy cream with the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar and the cinnamon until firmly whipped. Mound the cream on the pie, cut into wedges and serve.

Make Ahead The recipe can be prepared through Step 5 and refrigerated for 2 days. Serve With Baked apple slices.

Linked to:
Sweets for a Saturday
Strut Your Stuff Saturday 
This Week's Craving

Vanilla Bean Dream Cream Pie

I had never baked with vanilla beans until about a month ago, and believe me they are so worth the price.  Vanilla beans have such an intense vanilla scent and flavor, and I love the gorgeous flecks they add to baked goods.

So when Dessert Wars announced their April theme was vanilla I was all in.  There was a catch though, you needed to use vanilla in three different ways in one dessert.  I had quite a few ideas,  most of which my husband told me were lame, until I came up with this one.

A vanilla bean wafer crust, a creamy vanilla bean and rum filling, topped with vanilla bean pralines.  Have I got your attention now?  If you love vanilla this is the dessert for you.  Mmmmm.  Cream pies are so awesome, and this one is loaded with rich vanilla flavor. 

Vanilla Wafers
adapted from Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker


 

1 stick butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 large egg

1 vanilla bean, split length-wise and scraped

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

Using a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy . Add the egg and vanilla and beat until combined.  Whisk together the flour and powder, beat into butter mixture until just combined.  

Roll into a log, approximately 12 inches long, the radius should be about 2-3 inches.  Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.  

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Take dough out of the freezer about 1/2 hour before slicing.  Cut into slices about 1/2 inch thick.  Place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper, about 1 inch apart.  Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown.  Let cool on baking sheet for about 5 minutes, than remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Vanilla Wafer Crust

1 1/4 cup crushed vanilla wafers

1/4 cup melted butter

2 tablespoons sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Mix all the ingredients together and press into a 9-inch pie pan.  Bake for 8-10 minutes.  Cool completely before filling.

Vanilla Bean Pralines
adapted from Allrecipes

1 1/2 cups toasted pecans
1 1/2 cups white sugar
3/8 cup butter
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup milk
1/2 vanilla bean, split length-wise and scraped

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
In large saucepan over medium heat, combine pecans, sugar, butter, brown sugar, milk and vanilla. Heat to between 234 and 240 degrees F (112 to 116 degrees C), or until a small amount of syrup dropped into cold water forms a soft ball that flattens when removed from the water and placed on a flat surface.
Drop by spoonfuls onto prepared baking sheet. Let cool completely.  Chop coarsely to use as pie topping.

Rum Vanilla Cream Pie Filling

Adapted from Martha Stewart 

1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1 1/2 vanilla beans, split and scraped, pods reserved
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon (2 1/2 ounces) golden rum

2 ounces (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup heavy cream

Combine granulated sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a medium saucepan. Whisk in milk and vanilla seeds, and cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until bubbling and thick, about 7 minutes (about 2 minutes after it comes to a boil).
Whisk yolks in a medium bowl until combined. Pour in milk mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking until completely incorporated. Return the mixture to saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it returns to a boil, 1 to 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, and stir in 1/4 cup rum. Add butter, 1 tablespoon at a time, whisking until butter melts before adding next piece. Let cool in saucepan on a wire rack, whisking occasionally, for about 10 minutes.
Pour custard into a large bowl . Press plastic wrap directly on surface of custard. Refrigerate until custard filling is chilled and firm, at least 4 hours (or overnight).

Meanwhile, place cream and vanilla pods in a bowl. Cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours (or overnight).  Remove the vanilla pods and beat the cream into stiff peaks.  Stir the custard, then carefully fold the whipped cream into the custard.  Spoon into the crust and topped with chopped pralines.  Chill until firm, at least one hour.

Linked to:
Melt in Your Mouth Monday
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday 

Toasted Coconut Cream Pie

This pie is dreamy.  Cream pies, or icebox pies as I've learned they're also called, are one of the best desserts ever.  A sugary crispy crust, combined with luscious creamy filling, and often topped with whipped cream.  Hello!

This is my first recipe out of my new Flour cookbook, and I hope every recipe is as delightful and amazing as this one.  I love this book since she includes the weights in addition to measurements.  I am easily distracted and often lose count of ingredients, cups of flour for instance, so it's nice to bake with weights.  You can't go wrong!

The only thing that didn't work out was the lime whipped cream.  The added cornstarch was kind of gross.  It added a gritty texture and tasted like cornstarch which is not terribly appealing.  The whipped cream ended up kind of lumpy, I must have done something wrong but no idea what.   I ditched it and just whipped some up fresh with a little bit of rum extract.  Yum!  I would also probably use more toasted coconut next time, there was plenty in the filling but the topping was a bit sparse.

Toasted Coconut Cream Pie
Slightly adapted from Flour 

Makes one 9-inch pie to serve eight
1 pate sucree shell (see below)
1 can (14 ounces; 392 grams) unsweetened coconut milk
½ cup (120 grams) milk
2/3 cup (140 grams) sugar
1/3 cup (40 grams) cake flour
1 egg
4 egg yolks
¼ teaspoon vanilla
½ teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup (100 grams) lightly toasted coconut, divided
1 ¼ cups heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon rum extract
3 tablespoons confectioners sugar

Pate Sucree
Makes enough for one 9-inch pie shell

8 tablespoons (1 stick; 112 grams) unsalted butter
¼ cup (50 grams) sugar
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (144 grams) all purpose flour
1 egg yolk

In a stand mixer with a paddle attachment cream the butter, sugar and salt for 2-3 minutes until pale and light.  Be sure to scrape down the sides and bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add flour and paddle on low speed for about 30 seconds until flour mixes in with the butter/sugar mix.  It will look like wet sand.  Add the yolk to the dough with the mixer on low speed and mix until the dough comes together, about 30 seconds.  Remove dough from bowl and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest in the refrigerator for about an hour.  (Dough may be made ahead at this point and stored in freezer tightly wrapped for up to 2 weeks or in the fridge for up to 5 days.  If frozen, defrost dough in fridge overnight before using.)
Remove from fridge and knead the dough slightly to make it malleable if it feels stiff. Using a rolling pin, press the dough to flatten it into disk about ½ inch thick.  Generously flour your work surface and the dough disk and carefully roll out the disk into a circle about 10-11 inches in diameter.  Make sure the table you are rolling on is well floured so that the dough does not stick to it; likewise make sure the disk itself is floured well enough to keep your rolling pin from sticking to it.  Roll from the center of the disk outward and gently rotate the disk a quarter turn after each roll to ensure that the disk gets stretched out evenly into a nice circle.  Don’t worry if the dough breaks a bit, especially towards the edges.  You can easily patch these tears up once you’ve lined your shell.
Once the dough circle is about 10-11 inches in diameter, roll it around the pin and then unfurl it on top of the pie pan.  Press the dough to the bottom and sides of the pie pan and use any scraps or odd pieces to patch up any tears or missing bits.  Make sure that the entire pie shell is well covered with dough and press one last time all the way around to ensure that any holes have been patched up.  Trim the edge of the shell to make it even with the pie plate.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  
Place pie shell in fridge for at least 30 minutes (and up to a day well wrapped or up to 2 weeks in the freezer well wrapped) to rest the dough.  Bake pie shell as is in oven for 35 minutes until the shell is golden brown all around.  Cool completely before filling.


Pie Filling
 In a medium saucepan combine coconut milk and milk and heat until it just comes to a boil.  Combine sugar and flour in a small bowl and whisk to combine (combining sugar and flour together keeps the flour from clumping up when you whisk it into the eggs.)  Whisk together egg and egg yolks in medium bowl and slowly whisk in sugar/flour.  Using a small ladle, ladle in a little of the hot milk mixture into the egg/sugar mixture and whisk it in; continue adding the hot milk to the egg/sugar until it is all combined. 
Pour mixture back into the saucepan and place on stove over medium heat.  Whisk vigorously and continuously for 4-5 minutes until mixture thickens and comes to a boil. Make sure you get your whisk into the corners of the saucepan and make sure you are scraping the bottom at all times.  First the mixture will be thin and frothy; as it gets hotter and the eggs start to cook it will get thicker and start to steam.  Eventually it will start to boil – but because you will be whisking continuously and because the mixture will be so thick it will be hard for you to know when it’s boiling.  Stop whisking for a few seconds once the mixture becomes thick and watch the surface of the custard to see if it starts to blub up.  It will go blub blub and that’s when you know it’s come to a boil.  Once the custard has come to a boil, whisk even more vigorously for 30 seconds.  Immediately take the custard off of the stove and pour it through a fine strainer into a pitcher.  Whisk in vanilla, salt, and ¾ cup toasted coconut.  Pour filling into pie shell and refrigerate until filling is set, at least four hours.

Using a stand mixer with a whisk attachment, whip cream with confectioners sugar until it holds firm peaks.  Beat in the rum extract.  Pile the whipped cream filling directly on top of the coconut filling, spreading the whipped cream out to the edge of the pie.  Decorate the pie with 1/2 cup toasted coconut.
Pie may be served immediately or stored in an airtight container for up to two days before serving.

Linked to:
Sweet Tooth Friday
Sweets for a Saturday
Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Caramel Toffee Pecan Icebox Cream Pie

I have been craving a cream pie for weeks and was determined to make one last weekend, but I just couldn't find one in my recipe books.  Then I discovered that cream pies are often called icebox pies (is that an American thing?).  Ahhhh.

I made this caramel toffee pecan icebox pie from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook.  O. M. G.  Talk about decadent.  The crust is a shortbread base with plenty of toasted pecans, and the filling.  Sweet lord, the filling.  It's vanilla caramels, cream, cream cheese, and whipped cream.  All this topped with pecans and chopped Heath (Skor) bars.  If you're on a diet run away from this post as fast as you can.

If you have an immediate craving for cream pie, know that you're supposed to refrigerate this over night.  I did not (quelle surprise).  I made it in the morning and served it in the evening and it was perfectly firm.

Caramel Toffee Pecan Icebox Pie
from Magnolia Bakery

Crust:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2/3 cup chopped toasted pecans
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened and cut into small pieces

Filling:
12 ounces vanilla caramels (I used Kraft, sold in 14 oz bags so I get to eat the leftover 2 oz)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
3/4 pound (one and a half 8-ounce packages) cream cheese, softened
3/4 cup heavy cream, whipped to stiff peaks

Garnish:
1/3 cup chopped Heath Bars (or Skor Bars for the Canadians)
1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. 
To make crust: In a medium size bowl, combine flour, sugar, and pecans.  Using a pastry blender, blend in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  Press into bottom of a 9-inch pie dish.  Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool to room temp, about 45 minutes.
To make the filling: in a medium size saucepan over low heat, melt caramels with the 3 tablespoons of cream, stirring occasionally until smooth.  Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temp, about 30 minutes.
In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add the cooled caramel and beat well.
In a separate bowl, beat the 3/4 cup of heavy cream until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold the whipped cream into the cream cheese mixture until well blended and no streaks of cream remain.  Spoon the filling into the cooled crust.
To garnish, sprinkle Heath bar pieces and pecans around the edge of the pie.  Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight in the fridge before serving.

Linked to Sweet Tooth Friday
 Sweets for a Saturday
 Melt in Your Mouth Monday

Rustic Apple Streusel Pie

This is my first pie ever from scratch, and damn was it good if I do say so myself.  Mike said so too.

Anyways, this is another one from Sarabeth Levine's cookbook.  I love Sarabeth.  Not only did she reply to my tweet which I think is really nice, but her cookbook is fantastic.  Her instructions are very detailed and there are lots of pictures to help you with your technique.  If you are looking to try some more challenging recipes but are a little hesitant this is the book for you.  This recipe and many others are on her website.

The pie dough is not the flaky kind, but a more dense and tender crust.  The apple filling was lightly spiced and pleasantly sweet.  And the streusel, mmmm, I love me some streusel.  I served it with some vanilla ice cream and it was simply delightful.

I did try to halve the pie dough recipe which I should know myself well enough by now to know that I shouldn't do this.  Something got lost in translation and my pie dough wasn't coming together so I had to add milk until it did.  Next time I'll just make the full recipe and freeze half the dough.  I mean who are we kidding, this isn't the last time I'm going to make pie.

Rustic Apple Streusel Pie
from Sarabeth's Bakery From My Hands To Yours

TENDER PIE DOUGH

Makes Two 9-inch single-crust pies, one double-crust pie, or six individual deep-dish pies. You will be using 1/2 recipe to make this pie.

14 tablespoons (1 3/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, cut into tablespoons

1/3 cup whole milk

2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon superfine sugar

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

1. Beat the butter in the bowl of a heavy-duty stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at high speed until the butter is smooth, about two minutes. With the mixer running, slowly dribble in the milk, occasionally stopping the mixer and scraping down the sides of the bowl with a silicone spatula. The butter mixture should be fluffy, smooth, and shiny, like a butter cream frosting.

2. Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together in a small bowl. With the mixer speed on low, gradually add the flour mixture and incorporate just until the dough forms a mass on the paddle and the sides of the bowl are clean. Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Knead a few times until it is smooth and supple. Divide the dough in half. Shape each portion into a disk, about one-inch thick. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap.

3. Refrigerate until chilled but not hard, 30 minutes to an hour. (The dough can be refrigerated up to one day, but it will be very hard, and should stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes before rolling out. The dough can also be frozen, double wrapped in plastic, for up to two weeks. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight.)

RUSTIC APPLE STREUSEL PIE

BAKER'S NOTE: Be sure to slice the apples thin so that they cook in the amount.of time needed to bake the crust — this isn’t a chunky filling. • Peel the apples, one at a time. Stand an apple on the work surface. Using a large knife, cut each apple in half. Place each half, flat side down, and slice lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices. Now trim the core of each slice. You will have perfect half-moons, without the ugly hole from the corer.

1/2 recipe Tender Pie Dough (see above)

Apple Filling

4 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices and trimmed (See Baker's Note)

2/3 cup superfine sugar

3 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out the dough

2 teaspoons pure maple syrup, preferably Grade B

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Seeds from 3/4 vanilla bean or 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 large egg, well beaten with a hand blender.

Streusel (see below)

1. Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350°F. Line a half-sheet pan with parchment paper.

2. To make the filling, gently toss the apples, sugar, flour, maple syrup, lemon juice, cinnamon, and vanilla in a medium bowl until well combined.

3. Lightly flour a work surface. Unwrap the dough and rap the entire circumference around its edge on the work surface. Dust the top of the dough with flour. Roll out into a 15-inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie pan, centering it in the pan, and let the excess dough hang over the sides. Heap the apples in the crust, mounding them high in the center. Bring up the edges of the dough, pleating the dough as needed around the circumference of the dish — the center of the filling will be visible. Brush the exposed crust with the egg. Place the streusel over the exposed filling to cover it, then sprinkle any remaining streusel over the crust.

4. Place the pie on the half-sheet pan. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until the crust is golden brown and any juices that escape are thick, about 1 hour. If the crust is browning too quickly, tent it with parchment paper. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Streusel

1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon superfine sugar

1 tablespoon light brown sugar

1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Combine the flour, superfine sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir the melted butter and vanilla together in another small bowl. Gradually stir the butter mixture into the flour mixture, just until evenly moistened (you may not need all of the butter). Squeeze the mixture in your hands until thoroughly combined. Crumble the mixture in the bowl to make fine crumbs with some small lumps.

 

Apple Syrup Upside-Down Pie

I haven't made a pie before, so I thought I might start with this easy recipe from Nigella's How To Be a Domestic Goddess.  I love this cookbook.  Some of the recipes are super easy, and some take a bit of skill, so there is something in it for everyone.  I followed this recipe exactly, and it turned out quite lovely.  It was really fast to make and looked beautiful, would be perfect for unexpected company.

My only complaint was there was a bit too much dough for my liking, I think next time I'll flatten it out more so there is more of a crust around the edges rather than all thick in the middle.  Mike really enjoyed it though.  It is definitely best right out of the oven, and I served it with some whipped cream.  We tried the leftovers the next day, and it was indeed "stodgy" as Nigella puts it.  I would only make this if there was at least four people there to eat it.  Liam was only interested in the whipped cream so it was a lot of pie for both Mike and I.

Nigella's Apple Syrup Upside Down Pie

Ingredients:
for the fruit:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 Granny smith or other eating apples, peeled, quartered, and cored
4 ounces walnut (or pecan) halves
8 tablespoons light corn (or maple) syrup, plus extra for serving (I used maple syrup)
8 inch shallow pie plate, buttered

for the scone dough:
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
scant 1 tablespoon sugar
pinch of salt
1 scant teaspoon baking powder
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 large egg, beaten
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon whole milk

 Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit, putitng in a baking sheet.  

Melt butter in a pan, gently fry the apples, curved side down, for about 10 minutes.  Put the walnut halves in a pie dish flat side up.  Pour over syrup, and then arrange fried apples curved side down. 

Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl.  Cut butter into cubes and rub into flour mixture until it resembles coarse bread crumbs.  Make a well in the center, pour in milk and egg all at once.  And mix to a soft dough.  Using your hands press dough into a cricle roughly the size of the pie dish and then place it over the fruit, taking care to seal the edges well against the edges of the dish.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, then turn down to 350 degrees Fahrenheit for another 10 minutes, by which time the top should be crusty and golden.  

Let sit out for a minute or so, and then place large plate with outer rim or lip over the top of the pie.  With once swift action turn it out onto the plate.  Best to do this over the sink since the syrup will be hot and runny.  Spoon about 2 tablespoons of syrup over the pie.  Serve with pitcher of warm syrup and well as light cream.  This sort of pastry becomes stodgy on cooling so time it to be ready no more than 10 minutes before you'll be wanting to eat it.  

Serves 6-8.