A Pie Per Week: Snickerdoodle Pie

Snickerdoodle pie

Brian:  All of the talk of Girl Scout Cookies got us into "cookie mode."  Who doesn't love a good snickerdoodle?

Snickerdoodle cookies!

Angie:  I did some searching and found several recipes to try.  Snickerdoodles not only taste good, they make the whole house smell so yummy while you are baking.  I was excited to try Snickerdoodle pie!  You start by pre-baking your crust for about 10 minutes.  This is a pie crust that cooks while baking, but we have found that the crusts don't get soggy when you pre-bake.

Preheat your pie shells

Brian:  Next you prepare your cinnamon sugar.  We'll provide amounts below, but this is something we just eyeballed.  Think cinnamon toast and the type of mixture you would sprinkle on your toast.

Cinnamon sugar

Angie:  Next you mix together your butter, buttermilk, egg yolks, flour, vanilla, salt and your remaining sugar.

Combine your ingredients

Brian:  After you have mixed well, pour your mixture into your pie shell.

Mix well and add to pie shell

Angie:  You then sprinkle your cinnamon sugar on top of your custard, and bake.

Sprinkle sugar on the custard

Brian:  I didn't really care for this pie.  The flavor was okay, it was more a texture thing for me.  It kind of tasted "eggy."  There are lots of recipes out there, and most only contain one egg and are a bit more cake-like.  If we did this one again, I would choose a different recipe.

Snickerdoodle pie ready for the oven

Angie:   I really didn't want to blog on this recipe, it's one I wouldn't use again.  I guess finding a good recipe is trial and error though.  I would use more of a "cookie" recipe for this next time.  I didn't care for the texture of this pie and the flavor wasn't as cinnamony (is that a word?) as I would have liked.  

Snickerdoodle pie by the slice

Pie Recipient of the Week

We really didn't feel this pie was worthy of giving away.  Hey, here's a pie, it's awful,  hope you enjoy it more than we did!  So, the pie sat in our fridge for a week and then went in the trash.  You win some, you lose some.

Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 1 Tbsp. sugar

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

4 large egg yolks

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 prepared graham cracker crust

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. Set a rack in lower third of oven. Line a baking sheet with foil and set it on oven rack. In a small bowl, stir together cinnamon and 1 Tbsp. sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together melted butter, buttermilk, egg yolks, flour, vanilla, salt and remaining 1 cup sugar. Pour into pie crust. Sprinkle cinnamon-sugar over custard.

2. Set pie on preheated baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Without opening oven, reduce temperature to 325ºF and bake until pie is set, puffed and golden, about 20 minutes longer. Let cool on a wire rack, then serve, or cover loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate to serve cold.

Black Bottom Pie

Black Bottom Pie

Brian:  Sorry for the delay, as we have never waited an entire week to put out a blogpost, but we will try to get back to our more disciplined ways.  :)

A multi-layered treat

Angie:  We were running a bit behind from the snow delays of the previous week, and just settling back in to our routine as the kids returned to school.  On a good note, this pie is delicious, and it really is the most complex pie we have made.  Hopefully this will be worth the wait!  :)

Whole milk and heavy cream

Brian:   This was all Angie's idea, and she wanted to make a Black Bottom Pie.  I must tell you, I thought that this would refer to the crust being of some type of chocolate variety.  However, it is more about the first pie layer on top of the crust that gives it the unique name.  Now, you can have a chocolate crust, regular crust, gingersnap, etc, but we did choose to go with a ready made Oreo crust for this particular pie.

A great way to start a pie

Angie:  The steps of this pie aren't necessarily difficult to do, you just have quite a few balls in the air at one time.  If you can have somebody help you with this pie, it makes it much easier, so we did this as a team.  You start by placing 2 Tbs. of water in a bowl and sprinkling your gelatin on top.  You just want to let it soften, so allow it to sit for 10 minutes.

Gelatin

Brian:  Meanwhile, you want to start heating your milk and heavy cream until it comes to a simmer.

Stir until it simmers

Angie: Next whisk your egg yolks, sugar, cornstarch, vanilla extract and salt.  

Whisking together ingredients

Brian:  You will then need to temper your egg mixture.  Take 1/2 Cup of the simmering milk/cream and slowly add it to the egg mixture whisking vigorously.  Once you have that combined well, you can add the egg mixture into the saucepan with your milk/cream that is at a simmer.

Tempering 

Angie:  Now add in your softened gelatin.  By the way, this all sounds much easier than doing it, because there really is quite a bit going on.  :)

Adding the softened gelatin

Brian:  Next you want to just simmer on medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, until the mixture thickens.  That is however, unless you are me, and tell your wife to add in the mascarpone cheese.  Mascarpone cheese has a consistency of butter, and runs counter to thickening anything.  Because of my blunder, we had to add in some extra cornstarch and heat a bit longer.  Doh!

Mascarpone cheese

Angie:  We were worried for a bit that we were going to have to start over, but fortunately it turned out just fine.  But what you should do here, is wait until after the mixture has thickened, remove from heat and add your mascarpone cheese.

Adding mascarone cheese to mixture

Brian:  Take one cup of the custard and place it in a bowl.  Add your chocolate chips and lightly stir.  Let sit for 2-3 minutes, and then stir the chocolate until smooth.

Adding glorious chocolate chips!

Angie:  Add your chocolate ganache to your pie crust, and smooth the top.

Chocolate on chocolate

Brian:  Chill the pie for 30 minutes while allowing the custard mixture to cool at room temperature.  Poor the remaining vanilla custard over the chocolate layer.

Adding the custard layer

Angie:  Smooth the topping without mixing the layers together, and chill for one hour.

Smoothing without blending layers

Brian: Next you work on the topping.  Use an electric mixer and beat the cream and powdered sugar until it starts to thicken.  Add the vanilla and then mix on high until stiff peaks start to form.

Creating the whipped cream topping

Angie:  Spread the whipped cream over the custard and then dust with cocoa powder.

Some cocoa powder for decoration

Brian:  This pie was among the best we have ever made.  The multiple layers gave the pie many different tastes and textures woven into one.  I am glad that most of the pies we make aren't so stressful, but it was delicious!  

Emilee giving her seal of approval

Angie:  I thought this pie was amazing.  I would like to try it another time with the gingersnap crust.  There are also variations with butterscotch and banana cream, but I really like the chocolate vanilla flavors best.  The whipped topping?  Also amazing!

Pie Recipients of the Week

Jamie and Debbie

Our pie recipients of the week are Debbie and Jamie.  We sit next to them in church all the time, and just realized by way of pie delivery, that Jamie lives in our neighborhood.  They are frequently involved in helping others, with organizations like Project A.N.G.E.L., and it is always great to serve the servants.

Recipe

Ingredients

For the custard:

1 envelope unflavored gelatin powder

1 1/2 cups whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon rum extract, optional

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup mascarpone cheese

5 ounces semisweet chocolate chips

For the topping:

1 cup chilled heavy cream

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Natural unsweetened cocoa powder

DIRECTIONS

For the custard, in a small bowl, pour 2 tablespoons water and sprinkle the gelatin over the top. Let the mixture stand until the gelatin softens, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the milk and cream in a large saucepan over medium heat until mixture just comes to a simmer.

In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, sugar, rum extract (if using), cornstarch, vanilla extract and pinch of salt. Whisking vigorously, pour 1/2 cup or so of the hot milk into the egg mixture and rapidly combine. Pour the tempered egg mixture into the pot of hot milk, whisking quickly the entire time. Whisk in the softened gelatin. Place the pan over medium-low heat and whisk the mixture constantly until thick, about 5 minutes.

Remove the vanilla custard from the heat and stir in the mascarpone (if desired, strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer to remove any lumps or cooked bits of egg). Measure out 1 cup of the custard and place it in a medium bowl. Add the chopped chocolate and lightly stir. Let the mixture sit for 2-3 minutes then stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is smooth. Pour the chocolate custard into the cooled crust; smooth the top. Chill the pie until set, about 30 minutes, while letting the vanilla custard stand at room temperature. If the vanilla custard starts to form a skin, lightly press a piece of plastic wrap to the surface.

Gently pour the remaining vanilla custard over the chilled chocolate layer. Pour slowly so the chocolate layer doesn't get messed up. Smooth the top; chill until set, about 1 hour, or keep covered up to 1 day.

When ready to serve, use an electric mixer at medium speed and beat the cream and powdered sugar in a medium bowl until the cream begins to thicken. Add the rum extract and vanilla; increase the speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread whipped cream over custard. Dust with cocoa powder. Cut into slices and serve (the topped pie can be made 4 hours ahead - chill uncovered).

About Your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Amish Vanilla Pie

Amish Vanilla Pie

Brian:  What a wild couple of weeks!  Like many folks across the country last week, we were part of the blizzard that swept across the nation.

Snow!

And pie wasn't the only dessert being made, snow cream was also on the menu.  When I was a kid, we would sometimes put syrup on our ice cream, for a snow cone type of treat.  But Angie managed to make this amazing concoction that rivaled ice cream, it was delicious!

Making Snow Cream

We had decided to make a vanilla pie this week, but we found ourselves out of milk, and we were unable to travel on the roads unless it was an emergency.  Fortunately we found an Amish vanilla pie that did not require milk, and we were back in business!

Sophie kept warm under a blanket

Since Angie did everything last week, she just baked the crust, and I did the rest.  Start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.  There are two parts of this recipe, the pie filling, and the crumb mixture.  Start by combining all of your pie filling ingredients, except for the vanilla.

Adding the ingredients

There were two very unique things about making this pie.  The first, is the consistency of the mixture when heated.  You actually heat your pie filling to boiling, and then you continue to boil until it is "thick and bubbly."  With most of the pies we have made, it means you heat until the mixture is thicker than pudding.  It feels like you are waiting forever, and then it very quickly starts to thicken. 

Adding the corn syrup

With this pie filling, that consistency was never achieved.  It will thicken, just not quite as much as what you would see with a cream pie.  Cooking it for 10-15 minutes should be more than enough.

All ingredients combined

The other strange part with this pie is that it advises putting in the vanilla, after the filling has cooled.  Neither Angie or I thought that made much sense, so I took it off the heat for just a minute or so and then added the vanilla.

Heating until thick and bubbly

Pour your pie mixture into the pie shell and then start preparing your crumb mixture.

Adding the vanilla

To start the crumb mixture you melt your butter, and then stir in the rest of your dry ingredients.

Crumb Mixture

Start adding your mixture to the top of your pie, I find it easier to do this by hand, to have the greatest control to get the best coverage.

Spreading the mixture on

After the pie is covered in the mixture, you place the pie into your pre-heated oven and heat for 50-60 minutes, until the pie is set.

Almost covered...

I really enjoyed this pie.  The crumb mixture really gives this pie a crunch, which is a really unique texture that we've never made in previous pies.  My daughter thought it tasted like pecan pie without the pecans.

Fully covered with crumbs 

Pie of the Week Recipient

Cheri is our pie of the week recipient!  Lucky for us, with the inclement weather conditions, she lives right in our neighborhood. She has helped watch our kids in the past, not only at church, but also in her home.  She always has a smile, she is a wonderful person, and we were happy to give her a pie.

To show you the type of person she is, she sent three packages of candy home with me, after delivering the pie.  :)

Recipe (from Buttercreambakers.com)

Amish Vanilla Pie

1/4 C Sugar

1 Egg; Beaten

1 T Flour

1/4 C Brown Sugar

1/2 C Light Corn Syrup

1 C Water

1 9" Pie Shell

1 t Vanilla

Crumbs

1/4 C Butter

1 C Flour

1/2 C Brown Sugar

1/2 t Baking Soda

1/2 t Baking Powder

1. Preheat oven for 375 degrees F. Mix sugar, egg, flour, brown sugar, light corn syrup, and water together in saucepan.  Bring it to a boil and continue to boil until mixture thickens.  

2. Let mixture cool and then stir in the vanilla.  Pour into pie shell.

3. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour, brown sugar, baking soda, and baking powder.  Crumble mixture over pie.

4. Bake for 50-60 minutes.

About your Bakers

A Pie Per Week: Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey pot pie

Brian:  Happy New Year!  We certainly hope you all had a great 2013 and that 2014 will be even better!  Although I am setting some New Years resolutions for 2014, I have not done that for quite some time.  Starting a pie blog certainly wasn't one of them, but it has certainly been something fun to reflect on for 2013.  Connor and I were able to go to the Colts game Sunday, so Angie came up with the pie idea and did this entire pie solo.

Brian and Connor at the game

Angie:  It has been a busy Christmas season!  Brian and I had not even really discussed what pie we were going to make over the week.  I was leaving church on Sunday and knew I needed to make dinner for my in-laws that evening.  I also was wondering what pie we were going to make in the short time we had.  So the two thoughts combined in my head, and I knew I had leftover turkey from dinner the previous night.  Turkey pot pie it is!!

I was really excited to be able to pull it off without Brian having to lift a finger, other than the delivery.  I have to say it'll be hard for me to list the exact recipe because I'm a "little bit of this or that" kind of cook.  I looked at several different recipes for this one and combined them into what worked best for me.

Carrots, celery, and onion

First of all, you need to decide what all you'd like to have in your pie.  Connor does not like peas, so instead of the easy route of frozen or canned peas and carrots, I found shredded carrots and used those.  Everyone also likes potatoes, so I used canned potatoes and added them with the turkey.  My cooking started with onions, celery and carrots in butter over medium high heat.  I turned the heat down when the onions were translucent, covered with a lid, and let simmer for 10 minutes until the carrots were soft.

Turkey and diced potatoes

I added the turkey and diced potatoes to the pot and stirred until it was all warm.

Adding flour, chicken broth, cream and dry ingredients.

I added the flour to thicken the mixture.  Then added chicken broth, cream, salt, pepper and celery seed.

Almost finished!

Next, you simply pour into an unbaked pie crust.

Ready for the oven

Top with a pie crust and press edges together.  Cut several slits to allow steam to escape.

Cook until golden brown

Bake until golden brown and filling is bubbling.

Brian:  I had no idea Angie was planning to do a savory pie, so it was as much a surprise to me as it was anybody else.  I really enjoyed it!

Pie Recipient of the Week

Our pie recipient of the week is Brian's cousin Susan.  They grew up together on the west side of Indianapolis, and attended church together for much of that time.  Susan is very active in her children's lives, and Madison, Michael, and Gabi keep her busy.

She's the kind of person who has helped with vacation Bible school, and as a farmers wife, she'll also offer us some free produce when it is available.  She's a truly awesome person with a great family, so we were happy to send a pie her way.

Recipe for Turkey Pot Pie

3 T butter
1/2 c diced onions
1/2 c diced carrots
1/2 c diced celery
1 can of diced potatoes
2 c cooked, shredded turkey
1/4 c flour
2 c chicken broth
1 t celery seed
salt and pepper, to taste
1/4 cup half and half or cream
1 whole unbaked pie crust

Place the butter in a large skillet on medium high heat.  Add the onion, celery, carrots and cook and stir until the onions are translucent.  Cover and cook 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft.  Add turkey and potatoes until warm.   Stir in the flour, add broth and cream.  Bring mixture to a boil.

Pour mixture into the unbaked pie shell. Roll out the top crust, and place on top of filling. Flute edges, and make slits in the top crust to let out steam.  Brush crust with an egg/milk wash if you’d like.

Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes.   Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and continue baking for 20 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.