Sugar-filled Thanks

Apple pie with crumb topping, which was one of my contribution to Thanksgiving 2014.

The other was the Pecan Cake with Rum Frosting pictured on the top right below.

It was kind of a monochromatic palette. It was fall.

Thanksgiving Treats

I've fallen a bit behind on my posts. Hey! Remember Thanksgiving? It's my favorite holiday and not just because of the four desserts we served this year. The goodies are pictured below.

From left to right: apple pie with a crumb topping, pumpkin roll, cheesecake topped with pomegranate arils, and pumpkin pie. I made the apple pie and the cheesecake.

We have a "family" recipe for cheesecake, but I wanted to try a recipe that used a springform pan since I bought one ages ago but have never used it. After reading a few recipes, I chose the Classic Cheesecake recipe because I liked the inclusion of sour cream in both the main cheesecake and the topping. It produced a silky smooth texture in the dense dessert and gave the topping the right amount of tang for a nice contrast. I believe I followed the recipe, but I might have omitted the orange zest (sorry, it's been a while.)

The apple pie recipe came from my King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion. I'm not sure I'm satisfied with the crumb or streusel topping so I might try a different version next time.

Sweet Potato Pie (Flour Crust)

You may remember an old post about Sweet Potato Pie from a few years ago. At that time, I used a graham cracker crust, which I thought was really tasty. This time around, I made a regular pie crust. I'm not sure which I like better since they both complemented the filling. The graham cracker crust is sweeter, so points to it for that. But regular pie crust from scratch is so delicious. I don't make this pie that often so I guess I don't really have to pick a favorite. 

Guest Baker

Up until recently, I didn't have a camera or good mobile phone to take pictures of baking and other blog-worthy items. I tried to get others to take and send me pictures but that didn't always work. Case in point: Thanksgiving 2012.  I baked red velvet cupcakes and dinner rolls this past holiday and thought someone snapped some pics but the supposed photog could not be found.  So as a special treat, I'm posting the gorgeous pictures of the pecan pie and chocolate cake my sister made for her Thanksgiving celebration.  

Apparently they tasted as good as they look. I forgot to ask her which recipe she used for the pie, but I'm pretty sure the cake is "Perfectly Chocolate" Chocolate Cake and Frosting, which I usually make as cupcakes.

Peach Hand Pies

I wanted a portable dessert for a couple of Cleveland Orchestra concerts at Blossom Music Center.  These little pies were the perfect solution!  

Peach Hand Pies.

  

I followed the filling recipe as written.  In hindsight, I would have peeled the peaches and cut them smaller to release more juice.  I made home-made pie crust but since I was out of AP flour I used self-rising flour, which made the crust a little biscuity.  Different, but delicious!

iPhone photo

I got the peaches from the farmer's market that morning, and they were ripe but not very soft. The vendor said they would be fine for baking but, ideally, I would have waited a day or two.  I'll have to plan better next time.  I'm glad I made these since Ohio peaches have been wonderful this year!

Thanks for Baking

I made the pumpkin pie for dinner all by myself! from the homemade crust to the filling to the whipped cream to top it! I used a different recipe from years past, and I think using condensed milk instead of evaporated milk and sugar gave it a smoother texture.


The whole spread. From left to right, pumpkin pie, whipped cream, red velvet cupcakes, pumpkin roll, chocolate roll, mini-pumpkin pie (graham cracker crust) and pumpkin cheesecake.

This picture is terrible but all of the ones I took were. I think we need a tablecloth for the dessert table. At least for the picture.

Mini Key Lime Pies

These tiny Key Lime Pies were dessert for a Labor Day barbecue. My original intention was to make one regular-size pie, but when I was in the baking aisle looking for graham crackers for the crust I found these mini pie shells. I stretched the filling to make 10 servings so we would each have one. I topped the filling with some fresh whipped cream (not made by hand) and a little key lime zest. So cute!

Labor Day morning, I called Whole Foods to see if they carried key limes and the guy on the other end said they did, and that they had them both in a bag and loose. I got to the store and, of course, couldn't find the key limes. I bought some loose limes and went to customer service afterward to tell them that they had given me bad information. The guy apologized and said the produce manager told him there were key limes. I left, and as I was leaving the customer service guy ran out holding a bag of key limes. I went back in and returned the regular limes for the bag. As I was completing the transaction, I saw the produce manager. I'm pretty sure he came out from the produce department just to scowl at me.

Spinach Pie

Whole pie

Savory slice

I got the recipe for this pie from my friend's parenting magazine. It's surprisingly simple and delicious. I'm not sure why they called it a pie and not a quiche. Maybe it's the ratio of egg to other ingredients in the filling. My only big modification to the original recipe is to make my own pie crust. This crust is 2/3 white (all purpose) flour and 1/3 whole wheat flour. It was really good with this type of pie, but I don't think I'd use it for a sweet one. I couldn't find a link to the recipe online, so here it is:

Spinach Pie
2 tsp olive oil
2 cups diced onion (one large)
1 9-inch frozen pie shell (or crust from scratch)
Scant 1 cup reduced-fat milk
3 large eggs
1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 10-oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and water squeezed out
1. Preheat oven to 350. Heat oil in skillet. Add onions and saute on medium high for 10-15 minutes, until they're soft and caramelized. Remove; let cool slightly.
2. Prick pie shell with a fork; bake 10 minutes. Crust from scratch does not need to be pre-baked. Meanwhile, whisk milk, eggs, cheese, garlic powder, Worcestershire, salt and pepper. Add onions and spinach.
3. Pour egg mixture into cooled pie shell and bake 45-60 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean. Edges of pie should be browned.

Pumpkin Two Ways

I didn't take a picture of our Thanksgiving dessert table, but here is a picture of the pumpkin pie (add 1/8 tsp nutmeg and 1/2 tsp vanilla and reduce cloves to 1/8 tsp) for which I made the crust from scratch. It's fairly simple and makes a world of difference in taste. It lost some of its flakiness as the days went on, but so does store-bought crust.

Not pictured: Red Velvet Cake, pumpkin roll and pumpkin cheesecake.

My grandmother took the leftover pie crust dough and leftover canned pumpkin and made these pumpkin empanadas. They were delicious cold and more delicious when reheated for 5 minutes in the toaster oven.

Sweet Potato Pie

I went to a clam bake that had leftovers so I came home with some clams and sweet potatoes. I asked for A sweet potato, but came home with four. I used the (three dozen!) clams in Manhattan clam chowder, which turned out great, and the sweet potatoes in the pie pictured above.

I thought the sweet potatoes were incredibly sweet so I cut the sugar to 3/4 cup. I also added cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. I used a graham cracker crust because I had graham cracker crumbs that needed to be used up.

There are a lot of variations to sweet potato pie and this one was exactly what I was looking for. I didn't want to use evaporated or sweetened condensed milk or make the filling too custardy. The end result tasted just like I thought it would from reading the recipe. I love it when that happens!

Thanksgiving Baking

Lately I've been baking and forgetting to take pictures of the baked goods or taking pictures that are just so-so.

These pictures aren't the greatest, but I think they convey the deliciousness of our dessert table at Thanksgiving.

Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting. (Yes, I should have taken a picture of an individual piece, but I didn't. If you saw the Throwdown episode, it looked a lot like Bobby Flay's cake.) I doubled the frosting recipe and used the leftover frosting on some chocolate cupcakes I had in the freezer.

Pumpkin pie, nut roll and pumpkin roll. I didn't make these, but I ate 'em.

Labor Day Baking

Apple pie (with crust made from scratch, of course)

And I made some Rice Krispies Treats (not pictured) for the people who don't like homemade apple pie. Actually, having two desserts at a holiday gathering isn't all that unusual.