Chai Pumpkin Pie

I realized in the midst of my pumpkin obsession that pumpkin spice and chai spice are quite similar. The difference is that chai is a little more spicy--with cardamom and black pepper. So why not make the pie a little more spicy too?

I adjusted my trusted recipe for a richer flavor and was not disappointed:

Chai Pumpkin Pie

3/4 cup sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp clove
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cardamom

1 15 oz can pumpkin puree
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract 
1 15 oz can evaporated milk

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F.
2. Prepare a single crust for your pie (either purchased or homemade).
3. Whisk the dry ingredients well in a separate bowl. 
4. Add pumpkin puree to dry ingredients and combine well before adding eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla.
5. Pour the evaporated milk in a small steady stream into the pie mix, stirring as you go.
6. Pour pie custard into prepared crust and bake in oven for 15 mins or until the exposed crust browns.
7. Reduce oven to 350 F and bake an additional 30 mins or until the center of the pie is firm.
8. Cool and place in the fridge until cold.
9. Share the sugar, delight in the spice.

Pumpkin Pie

There are definitely benefits to having a baker in the house. For one thing, there is someone to make you pie when you want it. My housemate noticed a couple cans of pumpkin puree sitting out, so he ordered and paid for a pie. It was marvelous waking up this morning to make my favorite pie. I used the same recipe I've always used (yes, it's the one on the back of the Libby's Pumpkin Puree can) except I added more spice, and substituted sweetened condensed milk for evaporated milk. The pie is creamier and more flavorful.

Apple Tart

 

I got a beautiful red tart pan at my first BK Swap and it sat in the cupboard for months before my own curiosity and a sack of aging apples prodded me to put it to use. My first question as a pie maker of course, is what the difference between a pie and a tart is. Well, a little research has proved that there isn't much of a difference. Tarts are often open faced with a finishing glaze and are thinner than pies, plus they are made in a pan without sloped sides. So far as this experiment went, the recipe is the same and the flavors are too. A much more interesting cousin to the pie however, is the galette. I must try that next!

Apple Tart Filling

8-10 small tart apples
1/2 cup sugar
4 tbsp honey
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 lemon juiced
1/4 tsp lemon zest

1. Peel and core apples and save aside scraps for later (see below). Slice apples thinly and place in a large mixing bowl.
2. Add cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, lemon juice, lemon zest, honey and sugar and stir until all the apples are glazed with flavor.
3. Pour the mixture into the pre-prepared crust (halve the recipe) and bake at 425 for 15 minutes.
4. Reduce oven to 350 and bake for an additional 40 minutes.
5. While the tart is baking, take the remaining lemon and apple scraps and cook them over medium heat with 1/2 cup of sugar and 1 cup water for about 20 minutes.
6. Strain the cooked scraps and extract the reduction sauce--this will be your glaze!
7. Hot out of the oven, glaze the tart with sauce.
8. Let cool 10 minutes and promptly devour.

Wait, What Did You Put in That Pie?

I'm getting more experimental with my baking. There's a certain point where you've done a recipe so many times that it gets, well, boring. So I've been throwing the recipes aside and following through with some of the what-ifs. And this is definitely a what-if pie. It turned out well except that I was over zealous with some flavors and forgot to add enough sugar. There isn't anything a scoop of ice-cream can't fix but I changed the amount below so you can do it better.

As for the fruit, I took everything we had: a pint of forgotten blueberries, two plums, and a bag of frozen mixed berries as well as a couple roasted beets for kicks. (I know what you're thinking, beets? Well, I'm convinced a vegetable that sweet definitely has its place in the dessert world. I don't recommend it for this pie, but I'm through with my theory!). I also added a little sweet white wine. I'm not sure it made much of a difference, so its place might remain with savory fruit blends. The best success of this pie is the crust, a perfectly flaky and buttery gluten-free mix.

For Crust:

2 1/2 cups gluten free flour blend (I use a mix of the King Arthur Flour and Bob's Red Mill, I think the more variety you have in the mix, the more disguised the gluten freeness).
2 tsp xanthum or guar gum
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup softened butter
1/2 cup shortening
6-8 tbsp cold water

1. Preheat oven to 425 F
2. Whisk the flour, gum and salt together well. The more you whisk the finer the texture of the flour. It's like sifting without the sifter, a trick that works well to smoothen out undesirable chunks of bean flavor.
3. Add the butter and shortening in pieces and combine in the mixture until there are pea sized crumbs. I like to mix by hand.
4. Add water in stages and fluff with a fork until the mixture comes together willingly into two balls.
5. Take a sheet of plastic (I re-use plastic bags for this) and roll the crust out in between two layers, using flour to dust both sides. Measure the circle you roll to approx. the size of your pan.
6. Place the pie tin upside down over the crust and slip your hand under the plastic sheet to flip the dough into the pan and form it to the pie tin shape.
7. Roll out the second crust the same way.

For Filling:

1 pint blueberries
2 pints mixed berries
2 plums
Whatever other fruit you need to use up
Juice of half a lemon
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1/4 cup honey
3/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp minute tapioca
2 tbsp gluten free flour
2 tsp cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg

1. Add all the ingredients together and stir until well combined. You can usually tell just by tasting if you need more sugar or citrus to balance out the flavor.
2. Pour the mixture into the pre-made crust (above) and cover with the top crust.
3. Pinch the two layers together, removing excess crust as you go.
4. Paint the top with an egg wash.
5. Cut a hole for ventilation.
6. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes or until the crust is crisp, then reduce heat to 350 until you fill your home with the smell of fresh baked pie (approx. 45 minutes).
7. Cool for 20 minutes and ENJOY!

P.S. Pie

My sister has recently gone gluten free, for that matter so have both my mothers. A little familial pressure and a rapidly growing market have inspired me to do some experimentation in the realm of alternative flours. My first trial was inspired by the bounty of fresh picked blueberries at the farmer's market here in Sunnyside, Queens. I set to work at home with the standard recipe, using Bob's Mill All Purpose Flour and Xanthum Gum instead of my normal King Arthur Flour. The dough tasted...miserable. I've always claimed that butter can rescue anything, but the savory chickpea mash that I rolled out on the counter resembled tortillas more than pie crust. A load of cursing and pounding later and the pie was in the oven. I figured I could rescue the fruit and make another frozen pie with it. I talked my friends out of eating any, and resolved that gluten free baking was a lost cause.

And then I took a bite. It's delicious. So here's to P.S. (it's gluten-free) Pie.

The Perfect Cookie Crumble Crust

After a brief stint in Thailand, I am back and baking more than ever! It seems the warm weather, a new kitchen in Sunnyside, and the oodles of time that lay before me have opened my mind and the cupboards to plenty of experimentation.

I made a batch of ginger cookies that I was very excited to post. Unfortunately, they were thick and bready. I blamed it on the oven at first and cleaned up in defeat (I later realized that the wheat flour I was using was not a good substitute for the recipe). With my mind clearer, and my sweet tooth still dissatisfied, I decided the cookies might crumble (haha) into something much more delicious...pie crust! It was a bit too hot in the kitchen to make fruit pie although I purchased a lovely bunch of blueberries and strawberries, so I resolved instead to make a yogurt pie. A little extra butter and a short crisping in the oven and the cookies were turned into a luxurious graham cracker-like crust. I mixed whole milk french vanilla yogurt and fresh pureed strawberries and poured them in. A couple of hours of freezing later, and I am very happy.

Here's to warm weather and cold desserts!