In Jennie's Kitchen

caramel pecan pumpkin pie

 

Last week, I got it in my head that I wanted to a make a no-bake pumpkin pie. And I wanted one lighter and on the creamy side. Well, a few pies later and more time than any no-bake recipe should require, I learned an hour in the oven is well worth it and requires much less effort. Now, where do I begin? Should we talk about the flaky pie crust? The smooth, light as air creamy filling? Maybe the thin layer of caramel that makes my toes wiggle with excitement just typing the words?

I've searched years for the perfect pie crust recipe and posted my favorite one by Dorie Greenspan over the summer. The recipe for this pie is pretty much the same except I substituted rendered leaf lard for half the butter. I've been in love with the stuff ever since Melissa Clark wrote about it three years ago in the New York Times. Vegetarians beware, and same goes for the faint of heart when reading Clark's description of the process for making it. My babysitter asked one day, and the poor thing nearly fainted when I told her. Once you get past that, though, you're in for a treat. It really does make for the best piecrust. And Clark is right about that porky flavor. It's a crazy taste sensation but for a girl who loves swine, mix it with caramel, pecans and pumpkin...I almost fell off the chair just thinking about it. In fact, there's a bit of drool hanging from the corners of my mouth.

Now, for the filling. I had just made some of Alice's caramel sauce and decided it would be a perfect layer nestled between the crust and pumpkin filling. I was right, and am not at all shy about claiming bragging rights. Warming the spices in a skillet before adding to the pumpkin mixture really awakens the flavor, so it's well worth the extra few minutes and dirty skillet. Cream is my other secret ingredient, so while this pie isn't going to make the American Heart Association's top 10 list, it'll definitely win first place at your Thanksgiving table.

caramel pecan pumpkin pie

makes one 9-inch deep dish pie

One single Dorie's Perfect Pie Crust (just halve the recipe)

1/2 cup Alice's caramel sauce

3 large eggs, beaten

15-ounces fresh or canned pumpkin puree

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

5-ounce can evaporated milk

5 ounces heavy cream

1 cup chopped, very lightly toasted pecans

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Fit unbaked piecrust into a 9-inch deep dish pie plate. Spread caramel sauce evenly over bottom; set aside.

Heat spices in small skillet over medium-low heat until fragrant, about 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

Add 2 eggs, pumpkin puree, warmed spices, evaporated milk and cream to a medium bowl. Whisk together until well combined. Pour into piecrust over caramel layer. Evenly sprinkle chopped pecans on top, gently pressing them into the filling. Brush edges of crust with some of the remaining beaten egg (store the rest in the fridge if you plan on making more pies this week). Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature 350ºF and bake for another 45 minutes, until the center is set (will look firm and not jiggly—no it's not a real cooking term, but you get the point, right?). Let cool completely before serving.

A few notes: I'm tempted to up the caramel sauce to 1 cup next time I make this. Also, don't toast the pecans too much since they will cook during the baking process. I used the empty evaporated milk can to measure out the cream since it was 5 ounces anyway. And if you're a vegetarian, or the mere thought of rendered leaf lard sends you running for the hills, feel free to sub shortening or use all butter for your pie crust.

Peach Raspberry Tart (and a blackberry plum one too)

 

While I love vacation, there are a few allowances I have to make cooking-wise when away from my own kitchen for two weeks. All I need is my chef's knife and a pair of tongs to jumpstart savory meals (although this year I'm also packing my cast-iron skillet), dessert is another story. There are no handheld mixers, let alone the 1000 watt Cuisinart Stand Mixer I normally use. Same goes for the food processor. Now, given the choice, I'd probably take at least the latter with me but watching my husband load our luggage like puzzle pieces, eventually muttering something about how much we're taking (newsflash: we're a family of four and two are kids).

So a few weeks ago I decided to experiment with free form tarts. Mainly because the last thing I want to worry about on vacation is the perfect piecrust. I'm also not sure there's a pie plate in the cupboards there either. Using the crust recipe I adapted from Dorie Greenspan as a start, I tweaked some measurements and decided to use a biscuit-making technique since the food processor wouldn't be an option. An old-fashioned pastry blender did the job of cutting in the butter, but truth be told, even using your fingertips to work it in was fine. Yes, I was worried too about the butter getting to soft, but a quick chill in the fridge and all was fine.

It doesn't matter if your tart is an exact circle, so you can eyeball—no need to pack a ruler too. What I love most about free form tarts (besides all that melt-in-your-mouth buttery crust), is they look imperfectly perfect. Those ragged edges give way to a sweet, bubbly, warm fruit filling, making me forget about the modern conveniences of home.

Blackberry Plum Tart

The trick to a really crisp bottom is preheating the baking sheet. And make sure you use a rimmed sheet, or else you'll have a juicy mess all over the bottom of the oven.

For the pastry dough:

1 1/2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup sugar

6 ounces cold butter, cut into pieces

3 tablespoons ice cold water

For the filling:

12 plums, pitted and quartered

1/2 pint blackberries

2 tablespoons butter, cut into pieces

1/4 cup sugar

Place a rimmed baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven. Preheat oven to 400º.

To make the pastry dough, add the flour, salt and sugar to a deep bowl; whisk to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over flour mixture and use a pastry blender, two butter knives or your fingers to cut in the butter (this can alternately be done in a food processor). Sprinkle the cold water over the butter-flour mixture and stir with a fork until the dough forms a rough ball. Wrap in plastic and let rest in the refrigerator for 20 to 30 minutes.

On a lightly floured piece of parchment paper, roll the dough out into a 16-inch circle. Scatter the fruit over the dough, leaving a 4-inch border. Sprinkle the sugar over the fruit and dot with the pieces of remaining butter. Fold the dough border up and over to cover the fruit, forming a crust. Leaving the tart on the parchment paper, place it on the heated baking sheet. Bake 40 to 45 minutes, or until pastry is a deep golden and the fruit is bubbling in the center. Let cool for 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

      

Peach Raspberry Tart

Serves 6 to 8

Follow the directions for making the blackberry plum tart, except use peaches and raspberries instead.

One unbaked pie tart crust

4 peaches, peeled and sliced

1/2 pint raspberries

Peach Pie + Dorie's Perfect Crust

Apple pie may be part of the American dream but I bet it’s due to being in the right place at the right time. If it had been a few months earlier and peaches were in season, Thanksgiving tables across the country might look quite different come dessert time.

Or, maybe, it's because apples are easy. All you have to do is peel, core and slice. Peaches, on the other hand, take a bit more prep to make pie. I'm an avid baker and must admit it requires a certain mind set to commit the time. The best way to remove the skin is to cut an “X” on the bottom (also referred to as scoring), cooking them for 30 seconds in boiling water (called blanching), remove with a slotted spoon and then plunge in a cold water bath to stop the cooking process. The skins will slip off 1,2,3 at this point, and then you can slice them. I know this sounds likes a lot of work, but I’ve learned the active time is relatively short compared to trying to peel a peach with a pairing knife. 

    

Another fringe benefit was getting to spend some quality time with my daughter. For a kid who's always around food and cooking, you think she'd love it. In the early days I'd prop her on the counter and let her scoop, pour, sift or whatever was age appropriate. Lately, I think she sees the kitchen as competition for mommy's attention. On this particular day, though, she asked if she could help. Well, I was more than happy to have an extra hand peeling these slippery orbs. Turns out her tiny nimble fingers worked pretty well. It was also the first time she used a real knife (gulp), albeit a butter knife.

Many recipes call for cinnamon, nutmeg and some even cloves. I like to let the fruit shine, so a pinch of cinnamon is enough for me. The recipe below lists it “to taste” because it’s your pie and you should feel free to add as much, little or none if you like. The pie crust recipe is a gift from Dorie Greenspan, one of my treasured food writers and go to gal when I have a baking question. She tweeted this one to me from her cookbook Baking: From My Home to Yours. The original recipe calls for a combination of butter and shortening. I love butter, so the more the merrier for me. Come to think of it, the hardest thing about making peach pie is waiting for it to cool so I can have a slice (see, it oozes all over if you dig in too soon).

 

Peach Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie

In their native form, I’m the only one in my house who loves peaches—everyone else is turned off by their fuzzy skin. When I make pie, though, all bets are off, and it’s every man, woman and child for themselves in a race to eat the last piece.

6 cups peeled, sliced peaches

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

cinnamon, to taste

Two uncooked rolled out 9-inch piecrusts (see recipe below)

2 tablespoons butter, divided into pieces

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. In a medium bowl, toss the peaches with the flour and sugar to coat. Season with cinnamon and stir; set aside.

2. Gently press one piecrust into the bottom of a ceramic or glass pie plate. Spoon peach filling into the crust. Top with remaining piecrust. Cut excess overhang and crimp or flutes edges to seal and make a decorative edge. Use a sharp paring knife to cut a few slits in the top so steam can escape.

3. Bake at 425ºF for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350ºF and bake for 30 more minutes, or until juices are bubbling and crust is golden. Let cool completely before serving.

 

Dorie's Pie Crust

Makes two 9-inch pie crusts

Adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006)

If you're new to rolling out piecrusts, then one of these pie crust makers might be helpful.

3 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp salt

12 ounces cold butter, cut into pieces

6 to 8 tablespoons, ice water*

 

1. Add flour, sugar and salt to the food processor bowl attachment on your Cuisinart Stand Mixer. Pulse for 1 to 2 seconds to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over the dry ingredients. Pulse, in one-second intervals, 8 to 10 times until it forms a sandy texture, with some pieces being about the size of a pea.

2. Sprinkle 6 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. Pulse until it forms a rough ball (add additional water if needed, 1 tablespoon at a time). Turn dough onto a counter or cutting board. Divide and form each half into a disk. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 30 minutes or overnight (be sure to take out a few minutes beforehand so it will be easier to roll out).

*I literally fill a small bowl with water and add some ice cubes, then spoon it out as needed.

Very Coconut Custard Pie

I tweeted about this piecrust made with matzoh a week or so ago. The wonderful thing about being a recipe developer is every time I go into the kitchen it's research and development. This one made it into the Cuisinart Stand Mixer blog, but you can also grind the matzoh with a regular food processor if you don't have the mixer or attachment. Enjoy!

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Crazy for Coconut

by Jennifer Perillo

Mom's Italian. Dad was Finish-Flemish. They were both Catholic, but it was my own marriage that brought me into the kitchen this Passover. While, technically nothing I make is considered kosher, I do my best to adhere to the laws of kosher cooking. My mother-in-law is a very arthritic 77 year old, so sweating over the stove isn't high on her list of priorities anymore. Besides, she was more one who cooked to survive than for enjoyment.

I've taken to hosting the Jewish holidays as a way of both keeping her traditions alive and showing her the respect she deserves — her parents had to send her away alone on a train as a child for her safety while living in London during WWII. I also want my daughters to know about their heritage.

I often refer to Joan Nathan's 1988 edition of The Jewish Holiday Kitchen that my mother-in-law handed down to me many years ago. Though there are many traditions followed every year in Jewish kitchens around the world, a lot has also changed. This year, I decided to stir up some change myself. I kept the meal simple with a roasted chicken, Patty Unterman's Potato Kugelettes (like homemade tater tots—on pg. 277 in case you're interested), and knew that dessert would be something coconut. Alas, I wanted something more than the basic macaroons that flood dinner menus on this leavening agent-less occasion.

I started thinking coconut pudding and from there began dreaming of coconut custard pie. I didn't have matzoh cake flour on hand so I decided to grind some matzoh using the food processor attachment on my Cuisinart Stand Mixer. This was seriously one of the quickest and easiest piecrusts I've ever made. It was sturdy enough to hold the weight of an extremely coconut filled custard, yet tasty with the help of some sugar and butter. My research in the Twitterverse yielded conflicting answers on whether it was okay to use butter in an egg-based dessert (kosher law doesn't allow the consumption of dairy and meat products together, so margarine is often substituted).

In the end, everyone loved the meal and my husband was amazed at my culinary prowess. And mom? Well, she didn't even know you need flour to make a piecrust but she loved it regardless.

Visit the Cuisinart Stand Mixer blog to get the recipe.