Classic apple pie is made with two buttery, flaky pie crusts sandwiching a sweet and spicy apple filling. It is delicious, but it’s not the only classic apple pie out there. I have met many people who would choose an apple pie with a crumb topping over the double-crust classic any day. Personally, I wouldn’t turn down either pie and consider them both to be ... Read More »
A classic pastry crust is great for all kinds of pies and tarts, but simple crumb crusts work even better for some recipes. Cheesecakes and key lime pies, for instance, seem to pair even better with crispy crumb crusts than they do with pastry. Graham crackers are the old standby for crumb crusts, as they have a good flavor and texture, but are relatively plain. ... Read More »
Peanut butter pie is, quite honestly, something that I didn’t think would appeal to me the first time I had it. I like peanut butter, but a pie with a super-creamy peanut butter base actually sounded like it would be a bit (or a lot) too much. When I was a pie judge at the American Pie Council’s Pie Contest last year, however, I had ... Read More »
Pie crust is typically made with just a few ingredients: flour, water, salt and fat. The fat is usually butter or shortening, and occasionally a little bit of sugar or cinnamon makes its way into the crust for flavor. It’s a simple recipe and it should be simple to make, but the reality is that it can be tricky to make a perfectly flaky pie ... Read More »
As much as I love a classic pumpkin pie, I am always on the lookout for ways to spice it up. Pumpkin pie can get boring after a while, particularly if you have a dozen of them in just a couple of weeks during the fall pie season between Halloween and Thanksgiving. Fortunately, pumpkin goes with all kinds of different flavors and just by tweaking ... Read More »
I don’t see plums in baked goods as often as I see apples, peaches, pears and other fruits. This is a shame because plums are amazing fruits to bake with. They’re sweet and flavorful, hold their shape nicely after they’ve been baked, and they turn such a beautiful color that desserts that use them are often simply stunning to look at. One of my favorite ... Read More »
A classic key lime pie is made with sweetened condensed milk, egg yolks and lots of fresh key lime juice. In the original recipe, the pie is unbaked and relies on the acid from the lime juice to “cook” the egg yolks and thicken the pie. It works well, but because of concerns with having uncooked eggs in the pie, most key lime pies are ... Read More »
As much as I love pie, I don’t like to compromise on the qualities that I think make up a great one. For instance, I think a pie has to have a good crust that is a blend of flaky and tender. I also think that that crust should be well browned when it comes out of the oven, not pasty looking. And when it ... Read More »
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