A Pie Per Week: Eggnog Pie

Eggnog pie

Brian:  We were trying to think of a good pie that had a holiday theme.  We considered the ingredients you typically see this time of year, things like candy canes, cinnamon, gingerbread, etc.  However, we stumbled across eggnog, and that seemed to definitely be associated with this time of year, and would be a pretty unique pie.

Eggnog is the key ingredient as you might guess

Angie:  I was pretty busy making our other holiday treats, so the idea was for Brian to take the lead on the pie while I worked on that.  I did pre bake the crusts, so the filling was all that was left for Brian.

Peanut Butter Balls

Brian:  That was the idea, but I must admit, this pie stressed me out a bit.  I am a bit of a black and white cook, I like to have all the ingredients listed and measured out.  This pie was a combination of two different recipes.  We looked up an eggnog pie recipe for the ingredients, but we wanted to cook it more like our creme brulee pie.  This is also the second week in a row where I started cooking without fully planning.  Last week I made the filling, but then realized I had not yet baked the crusts.  Doh!

Christmas spices

Angie:  I came over and helped after things got started.  This pie does have several things going on, so you do have to plan. You need egg yolks in the recipe, so those have to be separated and broken up.  You have some measured ingredients to add, you need to temper in the mixture, and after Brian started cooking the Eggnog and corn starch, he was kind of stuck at the stove.

Vanilla

Brian:  I would recommend you start by getting everything ready you are going to need for your pie first.  Separate your eggs and beat your yolks.  You then want to add that to your sugar mixture and mix well.  You then add in mascarpone cheese, which is an ingredient I've never heard of, let alone used.

Mascarpone cheese

Angie:  Mascarpone was a new one for both of us.  According to the label, some will use this cheese as a spread instead of butter.  You mix it well with the sugar mixture, and that is the major preparation you will do. Keep your vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon close by for later.

Mixing together ingredients

Brian:  Now that you have your sugar mixture ready, you begin working on your other mixture, eggnog and cornstarch.  Simmer that together until the cornstarch dissolves nicely and it starts to bubble.  The bubbling alerts you to temper in the sugar mixture.  We took 1/2 a cup of the eggnog mixture, and slowly added it to the sugar mixture.  Once that mixed well, we very slowly added the sugar mixture back into the eggnog mixture, stirring well the whole time.  And really, as Tom Petty sang, "The waiting is the hardest part."

Adding the mixture to the pie shell

Angie:  Cream pies always take some time to prepare.  You start to question yourself, if you added the ingredients correctly, and then all of a sudden... when it does quicken it thickens quickly.  This recipe called for a dash of vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon, so I added that after the mixture was nice and thick, and I poured into the pie shells.

Waiting for the pie to set up

Brian:  I loved this pie, but I LOVE eggnog.  This pie has a very bold eggnog flavor, so if you don't like it, I guarantee this isn't the pie for you.  I will say this, since it is so bold, I think pairing it with something would be good.  Some whipped cream would add a different texture, and the original recipe called it a brulee.  I think that layer of braised sugar on top would compliment this pie nicely.  The pie cut into awesome pieces.

Eggnog pie slice

Angie:  I'm not an eggnog fan, at all.  While the filling was cooking I thought it had a strong bubble gum aroma.  I did take a small bite and thought it was really tasty though so even if you aren't an eggnog fan I think you'll enjoy this pie!!

Pie Recipient of the Week

Deena!

Our pie recipient of the week is Deena.  Brian and Deena attended the same school, Avon High School, and they both have kids that attend the school now.  They also have worked together, so it was nice to provide her a pie.

She has a great husband and family, and is recovering from a recent surgery.  We should note, she mentioned that she thought the pie sounded good when we posted pictures on our Facebook page.  Hint Hint:  Let us know what pie sounds good to you, and it aids us in the selection process.  :)

Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups eggnog

3 Tbs. Corn Starch

4 egg yolks

1/4 cup white sugar

3 ounces mascarpone cheese, softened

1 dash ground nutmeg (optional)

1 dash ground cinnamon (optional)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

1 pre-baked pie shell

Simmer your eggnog and cornstarch together, stirring frequently, until the mixture starts to bubble.  Beat your egg yolks and add in your sugar.  Next, add your mascarpone cheese to the sugar mixture, mixing until blended and smooth.  Temper 1/4 of your eggnog mixture into your sugar mixture.  After that has mixed well, add back to your eggnog mixture, turn to medium high heat and continue to heat until thick and creamy.  Add in your vanilla, nutmeg, and cinnamon after you take off of heat, and then pour into pie crust.  Place in refrigerator until pies set up.

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Cocoa Cream pie

Cocoa Cream Pie

Brian:  We had a complaint from our family that we had not featured a chocolate pie in awhile, so we decided to bring one out.  We have actually featured chocolate more than any other ingredient, with elements in our chocolate torte, fudge brownie, Hersheys chocolate, soda, french silk, derby, Hershey's chewy brownie, and our chocolate peanut butter pies.

Cocoa

Angie:  This is a pie that my youngest daughter Emilee made entirely by herself.  I had been busy in the kitchen this weekend baking Christmas treats.

Christmas baking weekend

Emilee:  This is a recipe that has been floating around on Pinterest and Facebook, and per the recipe, it was popular in the 30's and 40's.  The first thing you want to do is bake your crust, so they can cool while you make the filling.  I started by separating the egg yolks from the whites.

Separating egg whites

Emilee:  Next you combine the yolks with the cornstarch, cocoa, sugar, and salt.

Mixing the ingredients together

Emilee:  Next you add the milk, and since the recipe didn't specify, this is where I decided to add the vanilla.

Adding the vanilla

Emilee:  Stir until the filling gets nice and thick, thicker than what you would see with a pudding.  The mixture will start out very thin, but give it 10-15 minutes, and it will gain the consistency you are looking for.

Cook until it thickens

Emilee:  All you have to do now is pour the pie filling into the crust, and allow it time to cool.  You can add a meringue or whipped topping if you wish.

Good by the slice

Brian:  I thought this pie tasted great.  Well done Emilee!

Cocoa cream pie top view

Emilee:  I liked this pie.  :)

Pie Recipient of the Week

Patty and her pie

Our pie recipient of the week is Patty.  She is another member of Brian's team at work, and has been instrumental in teaching him all about data, in the software application they teach.  Patty is quite the baker as well, with her specialty being cupcakes.

Coincidentally, Patty is the third person on the product team to receive one of our chocolate pies, with Jill receiving chocolate torte and Andy receiving french silk.  It has been a great year for Patty and her family as her son won the singles state tennis championship in Indiana as a Junior.  She does a lot for the product team, so it was great to finally give her the pie that Brian has promised... for awhile.  :)

Recipe:

Ingredients

1/2 c cocoa

1/4 c cornstarch/or arrowroot powder (or ½ c. all purpose flour)

3 egg yolks

1 1/2 c sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2 c milk

1 tsp vanilla

Mix cocoa, cornstarch, beaten egg yolks; sugar and salt, then add milk and vanilla gradually, while stirring in a pot over med-high heat. Cook until thick, beating it smooth. Cream pies take some time to thicken, so stir... and stir (10-15 min). Using a heavy bottom pan really helps. Just keep it up until it thickens. Pour into a pre-baked pie shell. Put in the fridge to chill, add whipped cream if you like, or use the left over egg whites for a meringue topping!

About your bakers

A Pie Per Week: Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Pie

Brian:  It has been a tough week at the Richardson household as we have battled some sickness.  I missed my first day of work in 16 years, and my son also ended up missing a day of school.  However, we both are on the mend, and it didn't hinder pie week.

Weapon of the cold and flu season

Angie:  Brian had never had sweet potato pie, and since it fits in nicely with the finale of fall, we decided to make that.  Interestingly enough, one of the key ingredients is sweet potatoes!  One thing I learned with this recipe is that you can boil the sweet potatoes unpeeled, then the skin comes off neatly after they are cooked.  

Boil sweet potatoes for almost an hour

Brian:  After cooking and removing the skin, put the sweet potatoes in a food processor for a minute, being careful to eliminate all the fibers.

Remove the skins and blend to remove all fibers

Angie:  You then poor the sweet potato mixture in to a mixing bowl, add your butter and mix well.  Then you add in your sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla and blend again.

Add your wet and try ingredients and mix well

Brian:  After you have all of your ingredients mixed well, it is time to pour into your pie shell.

Pour sweet potato mixture in the pie shell

Angie:  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees F for 55 to 60 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.

Pies ready for baking

Brian:  I thought this pie was delicious!  I heard that many folks prefer it over pumpkin, and I can see why.

Great with some whipped topping

Angie:  I was really excited to find this recipe and have it turn out so well!  I loved the flavor and texture of this pie and it was so very easy to make.  I will certainly be making this one again.

Pie Recipients of the Week

Dennis and Dawn

Our pie recipients of the week are Dawn and Dennis, who are a couple in our Life Group.  Dennis recently purchased a new home, and immediately had a job assignment that had him living out of hotels for awhile.  He finally returned this weekend, so it seemed like a nice housewarming gift on his return.

Dawn has such a big heart.  She demonstrated that by helping with Dennis's home while he was away, by painting and helping get things ready.  She and some friends even surprised him with a Christmas tree!  A really wonderful couple, and the type of people we love to share our pies with.

Recipe (From Skinnytaste.com)

Sweet Potato Pie
 
Servings: 8 • Serving Size: 1/8th • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 7 pts
Calories: 229 • Fat: 8 g • Protein: 3.3 g • Carb: 44.4 g • Fiber: 1.3 g  

Ingredients:
  

• 2 (1-1/2 lbs) sweet potatoes
• 2 tbsp light butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup 1% milk
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 tsp ground pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

Directions:

Boil sweet potato whole in skin for 50 to 55 minutes, or until soft. Run cold water over the sweet potato, and remove the skin. Blend potatoes in a blender and pulse for about one minute to remove all fibers.

Place sweet potatoes in a bowl. Add butter, and mix well. Using an electric mixer, mix in sugar, milk, eggs, cinnamon and vanilla. Beat on medium speed until mixture is smooth. Pour filling into an unbaked pie crust.

Bake at 350 degrees for 55 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Serve with cool whip and enjoy!

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Pies!

Brian:  With Thanksgiving happening this week, we thought it would be a good time to assemble some of our favorite pies of the year and share them with our family.  We celebrated this year in Bloomington, there was lots of great food, and I sampled my first ever deep fried turkey.

Deep fried turkey

Angie:  One of the pies we knew we wanted to make again was our Caramel Apple Cranberry pie.  It was so good!

Angie peeling apples

Brian:  Making Buttermilk pie again was a must.  I even convinced my mother to make it, it is so delicious and so simple to make!

Buttermilk is a key ingredient to buttermilk pie

Angie:  When we made brown sugar pie, we noticed how much it tasted like pecan, but the flavor wasn't as buttery.  We made a decision, right then and there, to try it with pecans on Thanksgiving.  We ended up having some extra  brown sugar filling, so we turned that into a plain brown sugar pie.

Brown sugar pecan pie

Brian:  I don't like pecan pie, but I loved the brown sugar pie version.  We also wanted to bake our streusel topped pumpkin, but this time we included the walnuts.  I have to say, both Angie and I preferred it without the walnuts, so sometimes an error is bliss.  :)

A collage of our baking day

Angie:  We ended our week watching the annual lighting of the circle in downtown Indianapolis.  Brian's office is downtown, and the company is always kind enough to allow us to view the tree lighting in the building, where it is nice and warm.

The #CircleOfLights

Brian:  We had a wonderful weekend, and the pies turned out great.  What pies did you make?  We'd love to hear from you, so feel free to comment if you would like to share.

Santa is an IU fan!  See!

Angie:  Our pie recipients of the week were our family this week.  We hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving, and that you were able to share some good times and good pie.

Family photo with Santa Claus

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie

Streusel Topped Pumpkin Pie

Brian:  Are you ready?  I am so excited for the World Series of Pie, commonly referred to as Thanksgiving.  I am also really excited because this has been the 3rd really great recipe we have made in a row.  Thanks for the ideas people, and please keep them coming.

Rear View of a Slice of Pie

Angie:  I am so excited for Thanksgiving!  As you probably know by now, if you follow our blog, family is really important to me.  I'm really excited to spend time with everybody as we all share food, and yes... we will be bringing some pies.  :)  We had planned on a traditional pumpkin pie this week. After having a Facebook conversation with some friends, one of them mentioned this pie and I was completely on board to try it!!  This is a great twist on a classic pie.  As you might guess, pumpkin is where we begin.

Pumpkin... a Key Ingredient in Pumpkin Pie

Brian:  This was actually a pie made primarily by myself and Emilee.  You start with the pumpkin, and then you add the sweetened condensed milk.

Sweetened Condensed Milk

Angie:  next, you add your egg, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and ginger.  We were actually out of ginger, so we substituted pumpkin pie spice for that ingredient.  Mix well.

Egg and Spices

Brian:  Next pour your pie filling in, and you can have it baking at 425 degrees F, while you prepare your streusel.  And the streusel is where we take this pie from good to great!

Making the Streusel Topping

Angie:  You combine your brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a bowl.  You then cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until it has the texture of coarse crumbs.  After that, you add the walnuts to the mixture.

Cutting in the Butter

Brian:  Did I mention that I forgot to add the walnuts?  Anyway, after your pie has been in the oven for 15 minutes, take it out and add your streusel.  I had first tried to use a spoon, but as I watched how much better Emilee was doing by spreading it by hand, I opted for that method as well.  Place the pie back in the oven at the reduced heat of 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  For our two pies, we ended up in adding an additional 10 minutes, but as always... give it the jiggle test to make sure the pie is set.

Streusel Topping Added

Angie:  Wow, we are really hitting on some really good pies recently.  If you love pumpkin pie, you have to try this one!!

A Little Slice of Heaven

Brian:  I thought this pie was FANTASTIC!  The flavor of the pumpkin was tasty in it's own right, and the streusel topping just takes it to another level.  Add some whipped topping for a flavor trifecta!

Pie Recipient of the Week

This week our pie recipient was Emilee's teacher Mr. Bradley.  Mr. Bradley has been a wonderful teacher and we are lucky enough that he has been the teacher for all three of our children .  She was a little nervous about taking it to school and giving it to him in front of her friends.  However, he was very gracious and excited about the pie, and gave her a thank you note before the end of the school day.  

Recipe

Ingredients

Pumpkin Pie

1 15 ounce Can Pumpkin

1 14 ounce Can Sweetened Condensed Milk (not evaporated milk)

1 Egg

3/4 teaspoon Cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon Ground Ginger

1/2 teaspoon Ground Nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon Salt

1 Graham Cracker Pie Crust

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)

2 tablespoon Flour

2 tablespoon Cold Butter

3/4 cup Walnuts (chopped medium fine)

1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon

Instructions

Pumpkin Pie

In bowl mix pumpkin, condensed milk, spices, egg, and salt. Blend well and pour into pie shell. Bake at 425 in a preheated oven for 15 minutes. While pie is baking mix streusel topping.

Streusel Topping

In small bowl with a pastry cutter (or 2 knives) blend flour, butter, add brown sugar and cinnamon, blend all until it you have coarse crumbs. Add nuts and mix well.

When pie has baked at 425 for 15 minutes, take out of oven and sprinkle streusel on top, covering evenly. Turn oven down to 350 and place pie back in the oven and bake for 35 - 40 minutes longer until pie is done. Make sure the pie has set and does not jiggle when you move it.

Pie may be served warm or at room temperature.

About Your Bakers