Pies
If you've followed this blog for a while, you know I love pies. To that end, here are six yummy pie recipes to get you through the weekend, including a Mango Pie (I know someone who adores mangos as much as I love pies, so there ya go) and a wonderful Cranberry Pie. Aw, heck, who am I kidding; all of these pies are wonderful! Enjoy!
YOGURT CUSTARD PIE
This is from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. Yields: 8 Slices. It begins, “This quick and easy recipe is a great one to make with your children. With only a handful of ingredients, and very little preparation, this is a pie that everyone is sure to enjoy.”
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peaches, sliced
1/2 cup cherries, pitted, chopped
1 - 9 inch pie crust
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat eggs until well blended & whisk in yogurt & sugar. Stir peaches & cherries (or any other of your favorite fruits) into mixture & pour into pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes, until the custard sets around the edge. The inner 2-3 inches should still remain somewhat soft. Chill, slice and serve.
STRAWBERRY PIE
Several summers ago, my daughter and I checked out a local fruit stand and came away with a quart of strawberries. They were on sale for $3 for a quart, so how could we pass them up?
Of course, then we had to decide what to do with all these yummy strawberries. And what better use for them than in a pie? So, here goes what I made.
Ingredients
1 quart strawberries
1 C sugar
3 Tablespoons corn start
3/4 cup hot water
1 pie crust
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place pie crust in an ungreased pie pan. Using a fork, pierce crust a couple of times (though don't go overboard), and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until lightly brown.
Note: If you're using a store-bought pie crust, bake until brown according to the package directions.
Wash strawberries. Cut up half of the berries (about 1 pint) and arrange in pie crust. You don't need to cut the strawberries too small; maybe in half or, for larger strawberries, in fourths.
Mash the remaining berries and place in a medium saucepan. Pour sugar over the strawberries in the pan and combine. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
In a small bowl, whisk hot water and cornstarch together, then stir into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat, then simmer until mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour thickened mixture over berries in pie crust. Chill for several hours before serving. Oh, and be sure to share!
CANDIED GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
This was posted on the Vegetarian Times site on November 4, 2007, and begins, “The secret ingredient in this lightly spiced pie is sweetened condensed milk, which gives the filling a silky-smooth texture.”
Makes 8 servings.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 15-oz. can unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 14-oz. can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
4 large eggs
1 9-inch graham cracker piecrust
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together pumpkin purée and sweetened condensed milk in large bowl. Whisk in eggs and pinch of salt. Pour filling into graham cracker crust and bake 30 minutes.
Sprinkle chopped ginger on top and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until knife inserted in side of filling (not center), comes out clean. Cool, and refrigerate 3 hours, or overnight.
Nutrition Information: Calories: 266; Carbohydrate Content: 47 g; Fat Content: 5 g; Fiber Content: 2 g; Protein Content: 8 g; Saturated Fat Content: 2 g; Sodium Content: 141 mg; Sugar Content: 37 g
CHERRY PIE
This yumminess is from Melissa at The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Melissa wrote, "In this classic and adaptable cherry pie recipe, you can use either sour cherries or sweet ones, fresh or frozen. Lemon zest and juice are mixed with the sweet cherries to add brightness and tang. But you can skip this step with sour cherries, which have their own natural acidity. Serve this pie warm or at room temperature, preferably within 24 hours of baking for the flakiest crust. Ice cream or whipped cream are optional, but very nice with the syrupy filling."
Time: About 2 hours, plus at least 3 hours' chilling and cooling; Yield: 8 servings
This was featured in "A Cherry Pie That’s as Sweet (or Sour) as You Want It to Be", and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024323-cherry-pie.
Ingredients
For the Pie Dough
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 to 7 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed
For the Filling
1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons instant tapioca
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom
2 pounds sour or sweet cherries (about 6 cups), pitted (or 20 ounces pitted frozen cherries)
1 lemon (optional)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Preparation
Make the crust: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor, whisk or pulse together the flour and salt. Add the butter.
If using a bowl, toss with your hands until the butter pieces are well coated with flour. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingertips, flattening the cubes into big flakes and continuing to toss them in the flour to recoat the flakes. If using a food processor, pulse butter into the flour until the pieces are about the size of lima beans.
Mix or pulse in 3 tablespoons ice water, tossing it with the flour in the bowl if working by hand. Continue to add ice water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, pulsing briefly or tossing well, until the dough begins to come together. Press the dough together if working by hand.
Form the dough into two disks about 1-inch thick. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days before using. (It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, then thawed overnight in the refrigerator.)
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack.
Make the filling: In a bowl of a food processor (you don’t have to wash it out if you used it for the dough), combine sugar (use 1/2 cup for sweet cherries and up to 1 cup for sour cherries), tapioca (use more for a thicker, solid filling, and less for looser, juicier filling), and cinnamon or cardamom. Run the motor until tapioca is finely ground.
Place cherries in a large bowl, and add sugar and tapioca mixture. Toss gently to combine. If using sweet cherries, zest the lemon into the bowl, then squeeze in the juice and toss well. (Sour cherries don’t need the extra acidity, so skip this if using.)
Using a rolling pin, roll out one disk of the dough on a lightly floured surface and into a 12-inch round, about 3/8-inch thick. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, preferably metal for the crunchiest crust. Roll remaining dough for the top crust into an 11-inch round.
Pour the cherry mixture into the crust and top with the remaining round of dough. Press the edges together, trim the excess dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers or press down with the tines of a fork. Cut a few steam vents in the center of the pie.
Brush the top crust with cream and sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar. Carefully place pie on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake until the crust is dark golden brown and the filling bubbles up, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 2 hours, allowing the filling to set before serving.
CRANBERRY PIE
My dad sent this recipe in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.”
The pie can be made with either one or two crusts. Dad's recipe, though, only called for one.
This can be found in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.
Ingredients
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Directions
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
Ingredients
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1-1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Directions
Make as above.
MANGO PIE
This is from Kanta and Hrishikesh Kirway, and adapted by Samin Nosrat in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. Samin wrote, "When Hrishikesh Hirway was a kid, his parents, who immigrated to the United States from Maharashtra, in western India, began hosting Thanksgiving. The meal soon evolved into a hybrid of a traditional Thanksgiving and an Indian potluck. “Out of that cultural mash-up, my mom started making this mango pie,” he said. She’d gotten the idea from other Indian aunties in the States, but their versions weren’t as good. “They weren’t making it with the best kind of mango,” Hirway explained. “The Alphonsos have a stronger, more intense flavor.” That Alphonso flavor shines as brilliantly as the pie’s bright filling, made tangy and rich with the addition of cream cheese and whipped cream. And the salty, crumbly graham cracker crust is the perfect foundation for the golden cloud of custard that sits atop it. It’s so satisfying that you'll catch yourself cutting sliver after mouthwatering sliver of pie."
Yield: 2 9-inch pies; Time: 50 minutes, plus 5 hours' chilling
This was featured in "A Very American Mango Pie, Inspired by Indian Aunties," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019974-mango-pie.
Note: I found the featured article very interesting, and hope you will, too. Please, take a look at it. Nothing like combining the old and new cultures and food!
While we're at it, check out Melissa Clark's guide titled "How to Make a Pie Crust." Helpful stuff there!
Ingredients
For the graham-cracker crust:
2-1/2 cups finely ground graham-cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 large pinch sea salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the mango custard:
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin (2-1/2 packages at 2-1/2 teaspoons per pack)
cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 30-ounce can Alphonso mango purée (3-1/4 cups)
1 large pinch sea salt
Preparation
Stir crumbs, sugar, cardamom and salt together in a medium bowl. Add butter, and stir with a fork until evenly combined.
Pour half the crumb mixture into a 9-inch round metal pie pan, and spread evenly. Press down with fingers, a metal measuring cup or a second pie pan to compact the crumbs as much as possible across the bottom and up the sides of the pan into an even crust. (The more compressed the crust, the less it will crumble.) Repeat to form the remaining crumb mixture into a crust in a second pan.
Heat oven to 325. Transfer both crusts to freezer, and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Place 3/4 cup cold water in a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup sugar with the gelatin; sprinkle mixture evenly over the surface of the cold water. Let sit a few minutes to bloom.
In the meantime, whip the cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar together until medium-stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm 1 cup of the mango purée to body temperature (stir to make sure you are just warming it and not bringing it to a boil). Pour warmed mango purée over gelatin mixture, and whisk until well combined. Gelatin should dissolve into mango completely. Gradually whisk in remaining mango purée.
Use a rubber spatula to beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until it is soft and smooth, then add to mango mixture along with a large pinch of sea salt. Use an immersion blender to blend until completely smooth, tipping the bowl to make sure you’ve incorporated everything well. Gently tap the bowl on the counter once or twice to pop any air bubbles. Use the spatula to gently fold about 1/4 of the mango mixture into the whipped cream, then fold cream into the larger amount of mixture until no streaks remain.
Divide custard between cooled crusts. Use a rubber spatula to smooth out the filling. Refrigerate 5 hours or overnight until firm and chilled. Serve chilled.
Tip
You can find Alphonso mango purée — which is a variety, not a brand — at most Indian grocery stores. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a food processor or a countertop blender to blend the custard mixture.
YOGURT CUSTARD PIE
This is from the infamous long-since-forgotten emailing list. Yields: 8 Slices. It begins, “This quick and easy recipe is a great one to make with your children. With only a handful of ingredients, and very little preparation, this is a pie that everyone is sure to enjoy.”
Ingredients
2 eggs
1 cup plain lowfat yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup peaches, sliced
1/2 cup cherries, pitted, chopped
1 - 9 inch pie crust
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Beat eggs until well blended & whisk in yogurt & sugar. Stir peaches & cherries (or any other of your favorite fruits) into mixture & pour into pie shell. Bake for 30 minutes, until the custard sets around the edge. The inner 2-3 inches should still remain somewhat soft. Chill, slice and serve.
STRAWBERRY PIE
Several summers ago, my daughter and I checked out a local fruit stand and came away with a quart of strawberries. They were on sale for $3 for a quart, so how could we pass them up?
Of course, then we had to decide what to do with all these yummy strawberries. And what better use for them than in a pie? So, here goes what I made.
Ingredients
1 quart strawberries
1 C sugar
3 Tablespoons corn start
3/4 cup hot water
1 pie crust
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Place pie crust in an ungreased pie pan. Using a fork, pierce crust a couple of times (though don't go overboard), and bake for 10 - 15 minutes, or until lightly brown.
Note: If you're using a store-bought pie crust, bake until brown according to the package directions.
Wash strawberries. Cut up half of the berries (about 1 pint) and arrange in pie crust. You don't need to cut the strawberries too small; maybe in half or, for larger strawberries, in fourths.
Mash the remaining berries and place in a medium saucepan. Pour sugar over the strawberries in the pan and combine. Cook over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
In a small bowl, whisk hot water and cornstarch together, then stir into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat, then simmer until mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour thickened mixture over berries in pie crust. Chill for several hours before serving. Oh, and be sure to share!
CANDIED GINGER PUMPKIN PIE
This was posted on the Vegetarian Times site on November 4, 2007, and begins, “The secret ingredient in this lightly spiced pie is sweetened condensed milk, which gives the filling a silky-smooth texture.”
Makes 8 servings.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 15-oz. can unsweetened pumpkin puree
1 14-oz. can fat-free sweetened condensed milk
4 large eggs
1 9-inch graham cracker piecrust
1/4 cup chopped candied ginger
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F. Whisk together pumpkin purée and sweetened condensed milk in large bowl. Whisk in eggs and pinch of salt. Pour filling into graham cracker crust and bake 30 minutes.
Sprinkle chopped ginger on top and bake 25 to 30 minutes more, or until knife inserted in side of filling (not center), comes out clean. Cool, and refrigerate 3 hours, or overnight.
Nutrition Information: Calories: 266; Carbohydrate Content: 47 g; Fat Content: 5 g; Fiber Content: 2 g; Protein Content: 8 g; Saturated Fat Content: 2 g; Sodium Content: 141 mg; Sugar Content: 37 g
CHERRY PIE
This yumminess is from Melissa at The New York Times cooking enewsletter. For this recipe, Melissa wrote, "In this classic and adaptable cherry pie recipe, you can use either sour cherries or sweet ones, fresh or frozen. Lemon zest and juice are mixed with the sweet cherries to add brightness and tang. But you can skip this step with sour cherries, which have their own natural acidity. Serve this pie warm or at room temperature, preferably within 24 hours of baking for the flakiest crust. Ice cream or whipped cream are optional, but very nice with the syrupy filling."
Time: About 2 hours, plus at least 3 hours' chilling and cooling; Yield: 8 servings
This was featured in "A Cherry Pie That’s as Sweet (or Sour) as You Want It to Be", and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1024323-cherry-pie.
Ingredients
For the Pie Dough
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 to 7 tablespoons ice water, plus more as needed
For the Filling
1/2 to 1 cup granulated sugar
2 to 3 tablespoons instant tapioca
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or cardamom
2 pounds sour or sweet cherries (about 6 cups), pitted (or 20 ounces pitted frozen cherries)
1 lemon (optional)
3 tablespoons heavy cream
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
Preparation
Make the crust: In a large mixing bowl or the bowl of a food processor, whisk or pulse together the flour and salt. Add the butter.
If using a bowl, toss with your hands until the butter pieces are well coated with flour. Cut the butter into the flour by pressing the pieces between your fingertips, flattening the cubes into big flakes and continuing to toss them in the flour to recoat the flakes. If using a food processor, pulse butter into the flour until the pieces are about the size of lima beans.
Mix or pulse in 3 tablespoons ice water, tossing it with the flour in the bowl if working by hand. Continue to add ice water, 1 to 2 tablespoons at a time, pulsing briefly or tossing well, until the dough begins to come together. Press the dough together if working by hand.
Form the dough into two disks about 1-inch thick. Wrap each tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to 2 days before using. (It can also be frozen for up to 3 months, then thawed overnight in the refrigerator.)
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place a baking sheet on the bottom rack.
Make the filling: In a bowl of a food processor (you don’t have to wash it out if you used it for the dough), combine sugar (use 1/2 cup for sweet cherries and up to 1 cup for sour cherries), tapioca (use more for a thicker, solid filling, and less for looser, juicier filling), and cinnamon or cardamom. Run the motor until tapioca is finely ground.
Place cherries in a large bowl, and add sugar and tapioca mixture. Toss gently to combine. If using sweet cherries, zest the lemon into the bowl, then squeeze in the juice and toss well. (Sour cherries don’t need the extra acidity, so skip this if using.)
Using a rolling pin, roll out one disk of the dough on a lightly floured surface and into a 12-inch round, about 3/8-inch thick. Fit the dough into a 9-inch pie plate, preferably metal for the crunchiest crust. Roll remaining dough for the top crust into an 11-inch round.
Pour the cherry mixture into the crust and top with the remaining round of dough. Press the edges together, trim the excess dough, and crimp the edges with your fingers or press down with the tines of a fork. Cut a few steam vents in the center of the pie.
Brush the top crust with cream and sprinkle generously with Demerara sugar. Carefully place pie on the hot baking sheet in the oven. Bake until the crust is dark golden brown and the filling bubbles up, 50 minutes to 1 hour. Transfer pie to a wire rack to cool for at least 2 hours, allowing the filling to set before serving.
CRANBERRY PIE
My dad sent this recipe in a letter dated “18 No 79”. He wrote, “Here is a recipe for a pie. 1st the way it was in the paper and the way I made it.”
The pie can be made with either one or two crusts. Dad's recipe, though, only called for one.
This can be found in my e-cookbook, Off the Wall Cooking.
Ingredients
2 T cornstarch
1 C sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T butter
2 C cranberries
Pie crust
Directions
Blend 1st four ingredients & cook in double boiler until thick. Add next 3 ingredients & cook 10 minutes. Put in pie shell & bake at 450 degrees for 20-30 minutes, covering pie with foil for the first 10-15 minutes. (Crust can be any kind you want, whether double crust or simply a bottom crust.)
VARIATION
Ingredients
2 Tbls cornstarch
3/4 C honey + 1/4 C molasses
1/4 tsp. salt
1-1/4 C hot water
1 C raisins
1 T margarine
1-1/2 C cranberries + 1 C canned cranberries (kind with berries in sauce)
Pie crust
Directions
Make as above.
MANGO PIE
This is from Kanta and Hrishikesh Kirway, and adapted by Samin Nosrat in The New York Times cooking enewsletter. Samin wrote, "When Hrishikesh Hirway was a kid, his parents, who immigrated to the United States from Maharashtra, in western India, began hosting Thanksgiving. The meal soon evolved into a hybrid of a traditional Thanksgiving and an Indian potluck. “Out of that cultural mash-up, my mom started making this mango pie,” he said. She’d gotten the idea from other Indian aunties in the States, but their versions weren’t as good. “They weren’t making it with the best kind of mango,” Hirway explained. “The Alphonsos have a stronger, more intense flavor.” That Alphonso flavor shines as brilliantly as the pie’s bright filling, made tangy and rich with the addition of cream cheese and whipped cream. And the salty, crumbly graham cracker crust is the perfect foundation for the golden cloud of custard that sits atop it. It’s so satisfying that you'll catch yourself cutting sliver after mouthwatering sliver of pie."
Yield: 2 9-inch pies; Time: 50 minutes, plus 5 hours' chilling
This was featured in "A Very American Mango Pie, Inspired by Indian Aunties," and can be viewed online at https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019974-mango-pie.
Note: I found the featured article very interesting, and hope you will, too. Please, take a look at it. Nothing like combining the old and new cultures and food!
While we're at it, check out Melissa Clark's guide titled "How to Make a Pie Crust." Helpful stuff there!
Ingredients
For the graham-cracker crust:
2-1/2 cups finely ground graham-cracker crumbs
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 large pinch sea salt
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
For the mango custard:
3/4 cup cold water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 teaspoon powdered gelatin (2-1/2 packages at 2-1/2 teaspoons per pack)
cup heavy whipping cream, chilled
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1 30-ounce can Alphonso mango purée (3-1/4 cups)
1 large pinch sea salt
Preparation
Stir crumbs, sugar, cardamom and salt together in a medium bowl. Add butter, and stir with a fork until evenly combined.
Pour half the crumb mixture into a 9-inch round metal pie pan, and spread evenly. Press down with fingers, a metal measuring cup or a second pie pan to compact the crumbs as much as possible across the bottom and up the sides of the pan into an even crust. (The more compressed the crust, the less it will crumble.) Repeat to form the remaining crumb mixture into a crust in a second pan.
Heat oven to 325. Transfer both crusts to freezer, and chill for 15 minutes. Bake until golden brown, about 12 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Place 3/4 cup cold water in a large bowl. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup sugar with the gelatin; sprinkle mixture evenly over the surface of the cold water. Let sit a few minutes to bloom.
In the meantime, whip the cream and remaining 1/4 cup sugar together until medium-stiff peaks form. Set aside.
In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, warm 1 cup of the mango purée to body temperature (stir to make sure you are just warming it and not bringing it to a boil). Pour warmed mango purée over gelatin mixture, and whisk until well combined. Gelatin should dissolve into mango completely. Gradually whisk in remaining mango purée.
Use a rubber spatula to beat the cream cheese in a medium bowl until it is soft and smooth, then add to mango mixture along with a large pinch of sea salt. Use an immersion blender to blend until completely smooth, tipping the bowl to make sure you’ve incorporated everything well. Gently tap the bowl on the counter once or twice to pop any air bubbles. Use the spatula to gently fold about 1/4 of the mango mixture into the whipped cream, then fold cream into the larger amount of mixture until no streaks remain.
Divide custard between cooled crusts. Use a rubber spatula to smooth out the filling. Refrigerate 5 hours or overnight until firm and chilled. Serve chilled.
Tip
You can find Alphonso mango purée — which is a variety, not a brand — at most Indian grocery stores. If you don’t have an immersion blender, use a food processor or a countertop blender to blend the custard mixture.
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