There's Always Time For Pie!

I've been busy... really REALLY busy. Did I mention how busy I've been? Over the span of 3 days last week, I made 4 pies and a birthday cake for our family's annual get-together at my great aunt Christy and uncle Charlie's house. We've accurately dubbed the holiday "Thanksmas." It's between Thanksgiving and Christmas... get it??? It's a holiday we made up in order to see family we don't get to see during the other holidays. I digress. This is about pies. Lately, I've been on a make-my-own-pie-crust kick. It's been fun so far. No major disasters as of yet (One went in the trash, but I'm learning from my mistakes). Anywho, while shopping at Michael's about a month ago, I found the neatest ceramic pie plates. Each plate has a recipe stamped on the inside of it. I thought it would be really nice if I made the pies according to those recipes and gave them the pie plates as a gift! So I did it. And I'm going to post all the photos and recipes in this post. Because last week when I posted all of those cookie recipes separately, I had a lot of unsubscribers saying I update too frequently...... whatever weirdos.

Wednesday evening I cranked out six, count 'em, SIX pie crusts! I was quite proud of myself. One lesson I definitely learned is to make sure the pieces of butter in the pie crust are small! Some of my pieces were as big as [small] marbles. They melted while baking resulting in holes in the crust and a burnt butter smell in the oven. No good at all! Don't stop cutting in the butter until the biggest lumps are the size of peas.

Thursday I got started on the baking. The first pie crust I rolled out was picture perfect. That is, until it went into the oven to be pre-baked. The instructions said just to prick it with a fork, didn't mention a thing about pie weights. The crust shrunk down into the pie pan. I tried to save it as best I could, but it was still kinda ugly. My boyfriend tried to make me feel better by saying it looked more homemade that way. I prefer to say "rustic." The first pie was the pumpkin pie. The recipe made a little too much filling, so I poured the extra into two small ramekins and baked them alongside the pie. Since the pie was going to be given away I couldn't exactly steal a bite, so I used the ramekins as my tasting portions. The filling was definitely delicious. The ginger flavor was my favorite part. (What's with me and ginger this season??) I recently got word from the recipients of this pie that my uncle Lanny ate ALL of it! My aunt Sherry and my cousins, Stephanie and Samantha, didn't even get a taste! I guess I'm flattered... Lol.

The second pie I made was a pecan pie. This was my first time ever making a real pecan pie, so I was nervous. I baked it exactly according to the directions. I took it out when the edges were set and the center was still jiggly. It smelled SO good while it was cooling! I gave this pie to my Aunt Michelle. She loves pecan pies, so I hoped I did it right for her. She said it was baked exactly how she likes it. Still gooey in the middle, not chewey and overbaked. She was nice enough to offer her pie up to everyone at Christy's for dessert Saturday night (alongside the Boston Cream birthday cake I made for Tammy's birthday that got devoured within the hour!).





The next pie on my to-do list was the cherry lattice pie. It was my first time attemping a lattice top pie, and I was especially nervous using homemade pie crust because it's very delicate. A few of the strips broke while I was putting them on the pie. Then the warm cherry filling started to soften the strips while I was folding them into the lattice pattern. It was extremely nerve racking, but I was able to mend all the broken strips. I ended up with a very rustic looking pie. The filling was so good. I snuck a little taste while I was making it. Homemade cherry filling is the BEST! I didn't get a picture of the inside of the pie because my aunt Tammy was not in the mood to share. But that's okay, because she texted me the next day and said it was really delicious!

The fourth and final pie was the one I was most excited to make. The apple cranberry pie was a sinch to put together. The smell of fresh apples and cinnamon is one of my favorite scents in the whole wide world. It comes second in my list of favorite smells only to vanilla cake batter. Now that stuff is pure heaven. But more about the pie. You may be thinking, "Wow, that top crust looks so flaky and perfect." Well remember that pie crust I told you that took a trip to the garbage can? Yeah... It was the top crust on this pie. The one you see in the photo is a Pillsbury refrigerated roll-out crust. I'm not afraid to admit defeat. One of my pie crusts was just too crumbly to roll, so I took a little help from the Dough Boy! But the little apple cut-outs came from my own crust, so props to me for something! Another mishap reared it's head when my great aunt Christy sliced into this pie. The filling never thickened up. It was very soupy. I dunno what went wrong. I've made apple pies before, and this has never happened. Any advice? Could it have been the recipe? Nevertheless (bringing back some old school vocab!), I stole a tiny bite of the slice of pie we took home to my dad. It was really good. The cranberries added a beautiful flavor throughout the pie. And the apples were cooked perfectly. I like when they still have a little bit of texture. The only suggestion my dad gave was that if I was making that pie for him, he'd want a little less cranberry and a little more apple. Other than that, it got great reviews!

Here are all of the recipes with my suggestions in orange italics (as always!):

• Pumpkin Pie
  1 single-crust pastry
  2 eggs
  1 can (16 oz.) solid pack pumpkin (I used a 15 oz. can)
  ¾ cup granulated sugar
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  ½ teaspoon salt
  ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  1 can (10 oz.) evaporated milk (Do they come in 10 oz. cans? I used two 5 oz. cans)
  
  Preheat oven to 425 F. Roll out pastry into round; press onto bottom and up sides of pie pan; trim edges and prick bottom with a fork (I suggest using pie weights). Bake 7-8 minutes (or until lightly golden).
  In large bowl, beat eggs; stir in pumpkin, sugar, salt, spices, and evaporated milk; pour into pie shell. Place pie on jelly roll pan; bake 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Continue baking 50-55 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean (I baked mine just until the outside was set and the center was slightly jiggly, about 45 minutes). Cool completely on wire rack. Refrigerate.
  
  
• Pecan Pie
  1 single-crust pastry
  1 cup light or dark corn syrup (I used King Syrup)
  3 eggs, lightly beaten
  ½ cup granulated sugar
  4 tablespoons (½ stick) butter, melted (I used salted butter)
  1 ½ teaspoons vanilla extract
  2 cups pecan halves or pieces
  
  Preheat oven to 425 F. Roll out pastry into circle; press onto bottom and up sides of pie pan; set aside.
  In large bowl, whisk together corn syrup, eggs, sugar, butter, and vanilla; mix well. Stir in pecans. Pour mixture into pie shell. Bake 15 minutes or until edges are set and center is still slightly liquid (I had to bake mine for about 25 minutes). Remove from oven; cool completely.
  
  
• Cherry Lattice Pie
  1 double-crust pastry
  1 can (20 oz.) pitted tart cherries (I couldn't find a 20 oz. can; I measured 20 oz. from two 14 oz. cans)
  1 cup granulated sugar
  2 tablespoons butter or margarine
  1/3 cup cornstarch
  1/8 teaspoon salt
  ¼ teaspoon almond extract
  Zest of 1 lemon & 1 orange (I used 1 lemon and only half an orange)
  
  Preheat oven to 375 F. Roll out pastry disk into an 11” circle. Place in pie pan (Don‘t forget the pie weights). Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown.
  Drain cherries, reserving 1 cup liquid. In saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt; stir in cherry liquid and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add butter, citrus zest, and almond extract. (The recipe forgot to say this, but add the cherries now, as well.) Pour into pre-baked pie shell. Roll out second pastry disk into an 11” circle. With a knife or pastry wheel cut eight ½” strips. Place pastry strips horizontally, then vertically, across the top of the pie (CLICK HERE FOR ILLUSTRATED HELP) . Bake 30-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Cool before serving.
  
  
• Apple Cranberry Pie
  6 cups sliced, peeled, and cored baking apples (about 6 large apples) (I used 3 Granny Smith apples and 2 Gala apples sliced ½” thick)
  ¾ cup dried cranberries
  1 tablespoon lemon juice
  ¾ cup granulated sugar
  2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1 double-crust pastry
  1 egg white, lightly beaten
  2 tablespoons coarse sugar (optional)
  
  Preheat oven to 400 F. In large bowl, combine apple slices, cranberries, and lemon juice. In small bowl, combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples; mix well to coat.
  Line deep dish pie plate with pie crust; fill with apple mixture. Using mini cutter, cut out vents in top pie crust. Place crust over filling; crimp and flute edges. Brush pie crust with egg white (and sprinkle with optional sugar).
  Bake 45-50 minutes or until apples are bubbly and crust is deep golden brown. Remove pie from oven. Cool pie in pan on cooling rack at least 1 hour before serving.