Happy Birthday to meeeee! This year, 2020, I turned 28 years old. Golly that sounds like I should have my life together. Sorry past Lar, you will probably never totally feel like you have your life together. But We can continue to be grateful for all that is wonderful in your life and all there is to celebrate... and let me tell you there sure is lots to celebrate!! No crazy celebrations though this year, because we are in the thick of a global pandemic and I'm not even allowed to go to my parent's house. Thank goodness I live with two wonderful friends who surprised me with this cute kitchen banner to make me feel special. Later on I picked up my guy and brought him over and we had a tiny party with PIZZAAAA and silly games. And of course I made dessert.
It's essentially like the comforting chocolate puddings that Ma would make on a weeknight, you know, the Jell-o packet kind. Put that on an oreo cookie crust, throw on some whipped cream and SPRINKLES and we have ourselves a birthday party pie. It's something you definitely want to eat. Even despite eating waaaayyy too much pizza. There's always room for chocolate. I continued to eat small slivers of this every night for a week after my birthday was over, as one should. Chocolate Cream PieRecipe slightly adapted from Martha Stewart Crust:
Filling:
Place the powdered gelatin in a small bowl and pour the water over top. Let this mixture sit for 5 minutes or so to soften (also called "blooming"... what a lovely phrase) the gelatin. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then slowly whisk the hot milk mixture into the egg yolks to temper them. Return the whole mix to the pot (what a lot of back and forth!) and continue cooking the custard over medium heat, stirring all the while, until the pudding is once again thick and bubbles are appearing in the middle... about 1-2 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, add the softened gelatin, stirring until it is dissolved into the pudding. Also stir in the vanilla. Yum! Let the pudding cool for a few minutes ever so slightly, stirring frequently so it doesn't form a skin on top, before you pour the whole shebang over your baked cookie crust! Use a spatula to spread the pudding evenly and flat over the crust, give it a few taps on the counter for good measure, cover the top with plastic wrap (prevent that puddin' skin) and place the whole pie in the fridge to firm up that filling... about 4 hours minimum. Waiting is the hardest part. Topping:
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March 14th is one of my favourite days to celebrate! If you haven't heard of Pi Day before... here you go: March 14 = the 14th day of the 3rd month = 3.14 = Pi = Pie My kind of math. I have been wanting to try my hand at making an apple crumble pie for a while now... we sell one such pie at the cafe where I work and it is a thing of beauty. Or at least, it looks like a thing of beauty. I confess I've never actually had a whole slice but I have tried broken bits and pieces that were not fit enough to sell. I'm no pie connoisseur, but it looks picture perfect and that crumble topping is all I ever want to eat ever. I always hope that a big chunk will fall off as we are cutting it to serve, so that I can snatch it up and have a taste for myself :) You might say, "Why don't you just buy a slice?" But, if you know me, my style response is more along the lines of, "Let's go home and figure out how to make this myself" Here is my attempt to re-create that pie, mashing together a few recipes from one of my most trusted baking mentors... that's right I'm talking about Martha. She usually doesn't let me down, and in this case, she pulled through once again. I believe the pie was a success!! For two reasons:
I added a few of my own twists to make the pie of my apple-crumble-dreams by throwing in some chopped walnuts and toasted oats into the crumble mixture. I also made sure there was a good pinch of salt in there too, as the slight salt in the crumb is what keeps me hoping a big chunk will decide to stray from the pie and make for easy snacking ;) The apple filling uses both fuji and granny smith apples for a nice balance of sweet/tart, and the filling itself is not overly wet but still juicy. I highly encourage you to serve this with a big scoop of ice cream... a good quality vanilla OR if you are feeling sassy, salted caramel is my weapon of choice. (High five that a Village Ice Cream store is just a few blocks up the street from where I live) Happy Pi Day! Apple Crumble Pierecipe adapted from Martha Stewart Pâte Brisée:
Last Christmas, my dear mother gifted me a set of mini tart tins with removable bottoms, an item on my baking wish-list!! I'm embarrased to say that it's taken me over six months to finally take them for a test drive... but better late than never! Their first use features a basic sweet-dough tart shell and one of my personal favourite fillings... pecan pie! These are somewhere in between personal sized pecan pies, or giant pecan tarts... call them what you will. But we can all call them DELICIOUS. Pecan TartsRecipe adapted from my experience at The Butchart Gardens Tart Shells:
About 20-30 minutes before you want to use it, take the dough out of the fridge to thaw a little bit so that it's easier to roll. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Place a tart tin on the dough and use a paring knife to cut a circle of dough out that is just slightly larger than the tart tin. Place the circle of dough into the tart tin and press into the bottoms and up the sides, pressing well into the edges to form a neat wall that won't slump while baking. Dock the bottom of the tart with a fork. Repeat with remaining tins. Place the tins in the fridge or freezer and chill until firm, about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 375. Place a piece of parchment into the dough shells and fill with dried baking beans or pie weights to blind bake the tart shells. Bake for about 15 minutes until just starting to turn golden around the edges. Reduce the oven temperature to 350. Remove the beans and parchment. Return the shells to the oven and continue baking until lightly golden and baked through, don't worry too much as these tarts will be going back into the oven later. Let them cool before adding the pecans and filling... Pecan Tart Filling:
Preheat oven to 350F. Place the pre-baked tart shells onto a rimmed baking sheet. Fill the tart shells with toasted pecans, not too many, but just enough to cover the bottom of the shell and allow for a pecan piece in every bite. Pour the filling over the pecans to fill the tart shells. Bake for about 25 minutes until the filling has slightly souffléd and does not jiggle too much when you shake the pan. Let cool completely before enjoying :) |
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