Recipe: Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart

Chocolate-Almond Pear Tart
Bon Appetit Magazine, Oct 2021, p. 63
4.5 stars

We had 2 pears and almond flour that I needed to use so when I saw this recipe, I thought it would be perfect especially since I really love the flavor and also texture of almond flour.

This recipe took a couple of days to make because the tart dough needs to sit and then chill in the freezer. Overall, it was an easy recipe, and I liked the flavor.

Two issues: The pears that I used were too ripe, so it caused the tart to be a little too "juicy." Also, the tart filling rose and overflowed so beware if you make it and make sure to put the tart pan on a sheet pan.

Tart Dough Ingredients: Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, egg, Kosher salt

Filling and Assembly Ingredients: pears, almond flour or meal, all-purpose flour, Dutch-process unsweetened cocoa powder, unsalted butter, granulated sugar, eggs, bittersweet chocolate, vanilla extract, almond extract, Kosher salt; sliced almonds and powdered sugar

Apple Pies.... Sarah's Best Apple Pie (with Crumb Topping) and Maple Bourbon Apple Pie

We made two apple pies, one for Thanksgiving and one for Christmas. Both were very different -- and neither memorable in taste though they looked nice. I'm including them here so we remember them and can compare them to future apple pie recipes.

Maple Bourbon Apple Pie

Better Homes and Gardens, Nov 2021, p. 95

1st photo

I don't remember tasting much of the bourbon. The lattice was fun to make -- well, my sister, did that part! In reviewing the recipe again, it's odd that there were no spices mixed in with the apples, perhaps so that the bourbon and maple could shine through, but they didn't.

Ingredients: apples, all-purpose flour, sugar, butter, maple syrup, lemon juice, bourbon, egg white, Demerara sugar

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Sarah's Best Apple Pie  (with Crumb Topping)

Martha Stewart Living, Nov 2021, p. 58

2nd photo

I thought this would be a hands-down amazing pie coming from Martha Stewart's magazine, but it was average, fine, ho hum. I'm looking for an ah-maz-ing apple pie recipe.

Ingredients: apples, all-purpose flour, apple cider vinegar, sugar, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, ground cloves, butter, black pepper, Kosher salt

Crumb topping ingredients: all-purpose flour, quick-cooking oats, light brown sugar, butter, baking powder, Kosher salt

Recipe: Molten Chocolate Crackle Pie

Molten Chocolate Crackle Pie

Half Baked Harvest

4.5 stars

We made this for Thanksgiving and I think it's one of the best chocolate pie recipes ever. It was chocolatey, RICH and had a nice complexity to it because of the hazelnut liquor and also the texture of the chocolate chunks. I'll definitely be making this again. No need to ever buy pie from other places like Emporium Pies. This beats it hands down.

Tips:

• We used Frangelico for our liquor.
• Definitely make the Hazelnut Whipped Cream! It's a nice balance to the richness of the pie.
• Make sure to let the pie cool; otherwise, it'll be a molten mess when you serve it, and you won't get the texture of the chocolate chunks.
• Half Baked Harvest's recipe didn't have instructions on how to best braid the pie crust so I got the help of blog contributor the grandcruman who has watched many a British Baking Show episodes who was able to help me.

Recipe: Momofuku's Banana Cream Pie Recipe

Momofuku's Banana Cream Pie
4 stars

We had some bananas that were very very ripe (almost black) which made me remember Christina Tosi (on Chef's Table on Netflix) saying that the blacker the bananas, the better when making her Banana Cream Pie.  Note:  This is the first Christina Tosi recipe I've made.

I found the recipe (see link above) on a U.K. website and made it last weekend.

It was really good, but quite sweet as I think all of her desserts are.  Interestingly, her pie crust was bitter -- but perhaps that's to balance the sweetness of the pie filling.  The recipe took a while to make... a bit of effort and time primarily because of the pie crust.  I will definitely be taking some shortcuts if I make this again.

Tips/Notes:

• Next time, use a different chocolate crust recipe as this one took a bit of time and didn't wow me at all (plus, it was bitter as I mentioned above)
• Didn't use yellow food coloring (I never use food coloring!)
• Substituted cornflour for corn meal that we already had
• Potentially use less sugar in the banana cream next time

Recipe: Mushroom-Thyme Pot Pies

Mushroom-Thyme Pot Pies
Bon Appetit Magazine, Nov 2017, p.114
4.5 stars

Delicious umami-laden vegetarian pie for mushroom lovers.
Perfect with a glass of red wine.

Tips

• Made 1 large pie vs. 8 small pies in ramekins
• Dough was a little chewy and is the only pie crust that I've ever made that has egg in it; will use the Thomas Keller Chicken Pot Pie crust recipe next time
• Onion only need 8 min to soften instead of 10-12 min
• Button mushrooms needed only 8 min instead of 12-15 min
• 1 hour was not needed to reduce the broth
• Didn't discard the solids -- we like texture!  The mushrooms were fine.  Didn't need to make the 'gravy' as a result
• Since it was 1 large pie, baked it for 40-45 min

Recipe: Chocolate S'more Pie

Chocolate S'more Pie
Gourmet Magazine, Nov 2006
5 stars

Was looking for a dessert to take over to our friends' house and found this recipe we'd saved (10 years ago!) from the now defunct Gourmet Magazine.

The pie was a hit!  We were so excited to eat it, I neglected to take a photo of it.  Will update this blog post with a photo the next time I make it which will probably be soon.

It wasn't too sweet, and I think the pie was actually even better the next day after putting it in the fridge overnight.

Tips/Notes/My Modifications:

• Used a mix of 72% chocolate and 60% chips
• Took a while for the marshmallow topping to whip up and triple in volume
• Make sure to chill the pie (chocolate cream filling in the pie crust) and put the marshmallow topping directly on the pie.  We made the marshmallow topping in advance and put it in a container where the topping set and was hard to spread on the pie).
• Enjoy with your closest friends!

Recipe: Peach, Blueberry and Ginger Pie

A BA Kichen Primer: Fruit Pies
Bon Appetit Magazine, June 2015, p.33-38
5 stars

Pie Crust Recipe
Filling Recipe

I've made a Blueberry Ginger Pie and now a Peach, Blueberry and Ginger Pie using the pie crust and filling recipe in the June issue of Bon Appetit.  It beats all fruit pies I've ever tasted.

Tips:

• Crust recipes, in general, never seem to make enough dough for the bottom and top.  It's so odd.  When they do, the crust just seems too thin.  For the pie pictured above, I decided to make a crumble for the top.
• I don't think the pie crust needs as much butter as it calls for (1 cup + 2 tbsp).  I may test cutting it down just a tad next time.
• Make sure to set the pie plate on a sheet pan lined with foil.  The pie will bubble over with its yummy goodness.
• Serve the pie with homemade ice cream -- bourbon vanilla bean ice cream went great with the peach, blueberry and ginger pie.

Recipe: Key Lime Pie

I forgot to take a photo of the pie by itself;
here it is cropped out of another photo.

Key Lime Pie (Andrew Zimmern's recipe)
People Magazine
5 stars

I saw this recipe in People Magazine recently and thought I'd give it a try -- I'd never made key lime pie before.  It was super easy!!!!  If you like key lime pie, make this;  you'll never need to order it from a restaurant again.

Ingredients:  graham cracker crumbs, light brown sugar, butter, egg yolks, sweetened condensed milk, key lime juice, Kosher salt, whipping cream, key lime or lime slices for garnish

Tips:

• I'd make more graham cracker crust than what is called for.  I didn't have enough crust, and as you can see the filling filled up the pie plate to the top.

Recipe: Spiced Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust

  

Spiced Apple Pie with Cheddar Crust  (Marcus Samuelsson recipe)
Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2014, p. 84
4 stars

This is a pie that I need to make again in the fall.  It was good; however, I think it needs more cheddar in the crust for the cheese flavor to come through.  Also, I don't think it takes 50 min + 15 to 20 min to bake.  I pulled the pie out of the oven early, and the crust still seemed to be overbaked.

I'll update this post once I make this recipe again.

Crust ingredients:  all-purpose flour, sharp cheddar cheese, butter, kosher salt, ice water

Filling ingredients:  tart apples, light brown sugar, all-purpose flour, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, ground cardamom, salt, ground cloves, lemon zest, lemon juice, butter

Recipe: Christina Tosi's Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie

Caramel Apple & Pretzel Pie
People Magazine, Jan 26, 2015, p. 106
4 stars

I saw this recipe from Christina Tosi (chef and founder of Milk Bar) in People Magazine.  I was shocked that the recipe calls for a can of apple pie filling, but I suppose she was trying to simplify this recipe for the masses.  For an easy homemade dessert to take to a cookout, I'd make this again.  I'd consider using caramel instead of butterscotch (or maybe both!) for the topping.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  pretzel crumbs, graham cracker crumbs, dark brown sugar, kosher salt, heavy cream
• Filling:  butter, white chocolate chips, heavy cream, vanilla extract, egg yolk, flour, kosher salt, canned apple pie filling
• Topping:  butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips

Recipe: Marcus Samuelsson's Black-Bottom Peanut Pie

Crust with the chocolate filling

Mixing the peanut part of the filling

Black-Bottom Peanut Pie (Marcus Samuelsson recipe)

Food and Wine Magazine, Nov 2014, p. 82

5 stars

This is 'Samuelsson's ode to his favorite candy bar, Snickers.' And it tastes just like a Snickers bar!

Super easy recipe.  Make it for the Snickers-lover in your life.

Ingredients:

• Crust:  butter, sugar, vanilla wafer cookies, vanilla beans
• Filling:  bittersweet chocolate, heavy cream, sugar, light corn syrup, butter, molasses, kosher salt, eggs, unsalted roasted peanuts

I used a 9 inch pie plate (instead of a 10 inch plate) and was able to make another portion in a standard loaf pan (extras for us!).

Recipe: Ultimate Mud Pie

I can't believe I forgot to take a photo of the pie!
Here's what is, well, left!

Who doesn't love pie, especially something called the "Ultimate Mud Pie?"

I tried out this recipe from epicurious.com that has a 4 fork (highest) rating.  It was pretty good, but not 'oh my gosh, this is the best thing I've ever tasted in my life" kind of amazing.  I've had some pretty good pies and would make this again.  It's a good, basic, chocolate pie.

Ultimate Mud Pie
epicurious.com
3.5 stars

Recipe: Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Pie

Decadent Chocolate-Espresso Pie

Country Living, September 2014, p. 101

4 stars

Don't these photos just make your mouth water?  Don't you want some pie now?

This is Anna Jones's winning pie at the 2013 State Fair of Texas!

Really easy and talk about decadent.  I can only eat half the size of a normal pie slice because it's so rich.

Great espresso flavor and pretty too!

I have to admit that I wasn't too sure of this recipe when I read it.  The use of 1/3 cup of cornstarch was a little odd, but it turned out great!

The filling ingredients include:  milk, cornstarch, sugar, salt, instant espresso powder, egg yolks, vanilla, semisweet chocolate, bittersweet chocolate, milk chocolate.

The espresso whipped cream can be used on other desserts and is solely whipping cream, powdered sugar and espresso powder.

I used an America's Test Kitchen all butter pie crust recipe for the piecrust (instead of the Perfect Piecrust recipe which uses shortening which I'm not in favor of).

Recipe: Apple Cider Cream Pie

I love apple pie, so this recipe caught my eye in November's issue of Food and Wine Magazine.  It's absolutely incredible if you love apple desserts.  I made this a second time the other day and offer these suggestions:

1. I was a little short on dough for the crust, so I would make a tad more next time.
2. It took me about 15 minutes to reduce the apple cider down to half a cup.
3. To give the dessert more texture reminiscent of apple pie, dice up 1 large Golden Delicious apple and 1 small Granny Smith apple and bake it in the custard.

If you figure out how to get the apple garnish on top to look like the Food and Wine Magazine photo, please let me know!

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/apple-cider-cream-pie

Enjoy!