48 | 52 Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pie

I hope all of you who celebrate it had a lovely Thanksgiving!

According to what people posted on Instagram, it was the year of Pecan Pie.
Which is nothing new, I know.

But this year, I only saw Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pies. Seriously though.
How can you people do this to me?

I mean, pecans PLUS chocolate PLUS whiskey? Yes, please!

So I had to make one, too. Without Thanksgiving. But that's alright.

Pecan Chocolate Whiskey Pie

From Joy the Baker

For the crust:

113 g (1/2 cup) cold butter, in small cubes

210 g (1 1/2 cup) flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

80 ml (1/3 cup) cold buttermilk

For the filling:

200 g (1 cup) sugar

250 ml (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) molasses

1/2 teaspoon salt

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons whiskey

75 g (1/3 cup) butter, melted

100 g (1 cup) pecans, chopped

85 g (3 ounces) dark chocolate, coarsely chopped

• For the crust, whisk together flour, sugar, and salt.  Add cold butter cubes and work the butter into the flour mix with your fingers. Add the buttermilk and knead together.
• On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough into a disk.  Wrap it in plastic wrap and put in the fridge for 1 hour. 
• Roll out the pie crust on a well floured surface - about 3mm / 1/8 in thick and about 30 cm / 12 in in diameter.  Transfer to a pie pan and trim the edge. Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for another 30 minutes (minimum; 3 hours max).
• Preheat oven to 180°C (350°F). 
• For the filling, whisk together sugar, molasses, salt, eggs, vanilla extract, whiskey, and melted butter until well combined.
• Sprinkle pecans and chocolate around the bottom of the pie. Pour filling over the chocolate and nuts.
• Bake for about 45 to 55 minutes (until it jiggles uniformly, not just in waves).  
• Let cool completely before refrigerating. 

 

My modifications:

None. (Using Irish whiskey instead of bourbon doesn't count, right?)

The taste:

Oh. My. Goodness. Thank you.

Thank you everybody for showing me all your delicious pictures and thereby making me want to try this pie. Thank you.

(I'm just trying to figure out how to turn this into candy. Because let's be honest here. Who needs a pie crust?)

What is your favorite Thanksgiving pie?

27 | 52 Individual Key Lime Pies

If you've ever been to the Florida Keys, I'm sure you've had various different Key Lime Pies.

If not, I hope you were still able to taste a Key Lime Pie somewhere else.

Because it's delicious. And so perfect for a hot summer day.

I personally also really like Key Lime Cheesecake but this time I wanted to make the regular pie again but split into individual portions.

And pure = without a whipped cream or meringue topping.

So here we go:

Individual Key Lime Pies

Adapted from cook. eat. love.

Makes 6 small pies/ramequins

For the crust

170 g (6 oz) graham crackers

113 g (1 stick) butter, melted

2 tablespoons sugar

pinch of salt

For the filling

4 egg yolks

400 g (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

160 ml (2/3 cup) lime juice

• Preheat oven to 160ºC (325ºF).
• For the crust, put graham crackers into food processor and pulse until in crumbs. Add melted butter, sugar, and salt and pulse until combined. Press the crust onto the bottom of your ramequins and bake for 10 minutes. Take out of oven and allow to cool.
• For the filling, beat the egg yolks with an electric mixer until fluffy. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to mix until thick. Add the lime juice slowly and mix until combined. 
• Pour the mix over the crusts and bake for another 15 minutes.
• Let cool on wire rack. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

My modifications:

I halved the ingredients for the crust and it worked well for those 6 small pies.

I also omitted the lime zest that the original recipe called for because I didn't have any limes at hand (just bottled lime juice).

As I said, I also didn't use any topping (whipped cream in this case) and I didn't freeze the pies (my freezer is too small).

The taste:

Very good. The pies weren't as cold as would have been nice (because I couldn't put them in the freezer) but otherwise very limey and yummy. A perfect summer pie.

What is your favorite refreshing summer pie?

22 | 52 Rhubarb Pie

'Tis the season.

No, not Christmas yet.

But the season of rhubarb, strawberries, and asparagus. 

I just can't get enough of all of them!

So, another rhubarb baking recipe this week.

For something typically Swiss: a 'Waehe' (pronounce: 'vaye').

A Waehe is like a quiche or a pie, and the most typical ones are savory with vegetables or cheese, or sweet with fruit. And they're all absolutely yummy.

Rhubarb Pie

Recipe by Andreas Studer for Coopzeitung 28/2011

Crust
200 g (1 1/2 cups) flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

100 g (1 stick minus 1 tablespoon) butter

4 tablespoons milk

Filling
4 rhubarb stalks

200 ml (3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon) heavy cream

2 eggs

1 tablespoon corn flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

4 tablespoons sugar

powdered sugar for dusting

• Preheat oven to 220ºC (425ºF).
• Combine flour and salt in a bowl. Add cold butter in pieces and knead with your hands. Add milk and combine to make a dough. Distribute evenly in your quiche/pie dish. Put some holes into the bottom with a fork.
• Peel rhubarb and cut into small pieces. Scatter over the crust. Beat together cream, eggs, corn flour, vanilla, and sugar. Pour over rhubarb pieces. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool and dust with powdered sugar.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

Good but not my favorite Waehe recipe. A bit too tart for my taste (which depends on your rhubarb, of course) so next time I would probably add another 1 or 2 tablespoons of sugar.

What's your favorite regional baking recipe?

24*52 Apricot-Chocolate-Coconut-Crumble Pie

Fresh apricots. Yum. A big bowl of them were waiting to be eaten here.

But of course I rather turned them into some baked goodness.

I know I've been crumbling a lot on this blog but hey - you can never have enough crumbles in your life (at least not when they're the sweet, edible kind). Right?

 Apricot-Chocolate-Coconut-Crumble Pie

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Crust

1 pie crust (with 1 teaspoon sugar added)

Filling

35 (about 800 g or 1 3/4 lb) apricots

105 g (1/2 cup) sugar

55 g (1/2 cup) brown sugar

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons cornstarch

60 g (1/3 cup) small chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon salt

Crumbles

175 g (3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons) flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

115 g (1 cup plus 2 tablespoons) shredded coconut

114 g (1 stick) butter, at room temperature and in pieces

80 g (1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons) brown sugar

• Prepare pie crust. Leave refrigerated for at least one hour.
• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Cut apricot into halves, remove stone and cut 3 wedges from each half. Combine with the remaining filling ingredients (works best if you use your hands). Pour into pie crust.
• Knead together all ingredients for the crumbles. Crumble over apricots. (It is a lot of crumble dough and the apricots were doming up so for me it worked best to press the crumbles onto the apricots to prevent everything from crumbling down.)
• Bake for about 1 hour on a lower oven rack. Place foil over top after 25-30 minutes to prevent the crumbles from getting burnt.
• Cool for at least 2 hours before serving.

 My modifications:

I used my recipe for the crust. It's not very different from Martha Stewart's though.

I also added the chocolate chips to the filling because chocolate can't hurt.

I only baked it for 1 hour instead of 1 1/2 and that was totally enough.

The taste:

So very good! I like the chocolate in it but if you're sceptical you can also leave it out.

I expected to taste more of the coconut so maybe replacing a bit of the flour with more coconut would be an option but that's just an idea, so try at your own risk.

What's your favorite fruity pie?

22*52 Lentil Pie

It was time for some savory baking again. Something special. Unusual.

And yes, I'm a bit brief today. Not your fault though...

Lentil Pie

Adapted from Die besten Quiches und Tartes

1  puff pastry dough (or alternatively 1 pie crust)

2 shallots or 4 small spring onions

2 tablespoons olive oil

100 g (3.5 oz) red or beluga lentils

200 ml (0.85 cup) vegetable broth

salt, pepper, ground cumin

2 eggs, beaten

cilantro (fresh or dried)

• Put the puff pastry dough in a quiche or springform pan and pull it up 2 cm (0.8 in) around the rim. Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
• Heat up olive oil and fry the finely chopped shallots or spring onions. Add lentils and broth, bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and cumin. Let cool a bit.
• Mix the lentils with the eggs and coriander and pour onto puff pastry.
• Bake on a lower oven rack for about 30-40 minutes.

My modifications:

The original recipe calls for red lentils. It definitely looks nicer but I only had the black beluga lentils at home and they tasted very good as well. It just looks different.

The original recipe also calls for a frozen Mexican herb mix which I didn't get at my supermarket but adding ground cumin and cilantro will do the trick.

The biggest change I made is that the original recipe is topped with 4 smoked trout filets which I just omitted.

The taste:

Very good! Will definitely make it again, maybe next time in a muffin pan to make it a bit prettier and to get the filling to be a bit less flat. But nothing bad to say about the taste. Serve it with a mixed salad, a steak, or pan-fried mushrooms. Still good cold the next day so don't be afraid of left-overs...

Any unusual baking recipe you would like to share? Please do!

Quiche / (Savory) Pie Crust

This is my go-to crust recipe for any quiche or savory pie. It is so quick and easy to make, there's really no need to buy the ready-made one.

It's from a recipe for Tuna Quiche which is a classic in my family and which my mom got from another lady about 25 years ago.

150 g (1 1/3 stick) butter, cold

200 ml (3/4 cup) flour

3 tablespoon cold water

• Knead together all ingredients. It works best using your hands.
• Distribute evenly in quiche or pie baking dish. Also easiest when just using your fingers - no rolling pin needed. Also: no prior greasing of the pan needed because there is so much butter in the crust itself.
• Cool in fridge until filling is ready.

10*52 Chestnut-Chocolate-Pie

Do you know Vermicelles?

If you're not Swiss, or live in Switzerland, or dine in Switzerland often, then you are probably thinking of pasta right now.

Completely wrong, sorry.

The Swiss Vermicelles is a chestnut puree usually served as a fall/winter desert with whipped cream and meringues. You can find a bit more info here and a recipe how to make it from scratch here . In Switzerland it is a bit easier to make as you can buy the ready-made puree in blocks or in tubes.

The hubby and I recently bought two slices of very yummy chestnut layer cake at a local bakery. Layers of sponge cake and whipped cream topped with Vermicelles. One slice and you are not hungry anymore for the rest of the day...

But because we both love chestnuts and Vermicelles so much I started searching for Vermicelles cakes and stumbled upon this week's recipe. Enjoy a bit of 'swissness' :)

Chestnut-Chocolate-Pie

Adapted from Annemarie Wildeisen

100 g (1/2 cup minus 1 tablespoon) butter, soft

50 g (1/4 cup) sugar

2 packages vanilla sugar or 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 egg yolks

400 g (14 oz) chestnut puree/Vermicelles

3 egg whites

150 g (5.3 oz) apricot jam

200 g (7 oz) dark chocolate

150 ml (5.5 fl oz) heavy cream

• Beat together butter, sugar, and vanilla (sugar) until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks one at a time and beat until light again.
• Add chestnut puree and combine well.
• Beat egg whites until stiff. Add 1/3 of beaten egg whites with a whisk, then fold in the rest with a (silicone) scraper. Fill into prepared springform pan (bottom dressed with parchment paper).
• Bake at 180°C (355°F) for 45 minutes. Take out and let cool.
• Heat up apricot jam in a pan. Either blend to make it smooth or scrape through a fine sieve. Spread evenly onto cake and sides.
• Heat up the heavy cream. Remove from heat and add the chocolate in pieces. Stir only after chocolate has melted. Let cool a bit. Cover cake and sides generously with ganache.

My modifications:

The original recipe calls for 80 g sugar, I just reduced it a bit since the chestnut puree is also sweetened already. And it was totally sweet enough.

I also omitted 3 tablespoons of kirsch (or alternatively: rum) just because I'm not the biggest fan of it. It would make it more Swiss though.

The taste:

Very good. Not very cake-like though. But the combination with the chocolate ganache is lovely. Maybe next time I would use a smaller springform to get a higher cake.

What desert is typical for your country but might not be known to many people outside of your country?

19/52 Chäswähe

Chäswähe. Looks very strange, right? It's Swiss-German for cheese pie. Savory cheese pie.
Together with onion pie they are very typical Swiss dishes.

I think that a savory pie or quiche is perfect if you have dinner guests but don't want to stand in the kitchen for long while they are there. Make & bake the pie before the guests arrive, toss together a nice salad and there you go - an easy, quick but satisfying dinner.

Oh, and you can eat it hot or cold - both is delicious. I just like it better when it's hot.

Chäswähe

Adapted from here

Pie crust:

200 g (1 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) flour

100 g (1/2 cup) butter, cold

1/2 teaspoon salt

70 ml (4 tablespoons) water (or less)

Filling:

200 ml (0.8 cup) milk

100 ml (0.4 cup) heavy cream

20 g (2 1/2 tablespoons) flour

100 g (0.6 cup) onions

100 g (1 cup) Emmentaler cheese

100 g (1 cup) Gruyère cheese

pepper, salt, nutmeg

• Knead flour, salt and cold butter together with your hands. Add water little by little and knead until you have a smooth dough. Put into pie pan (I use the ceramic kind) and put many holes into it with a fork. Let cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
• In a cooking pan, mix flour with a bit of the milk. When combined without clumps, add remaining milk and cream. Bring to a boil and let simmer for about 5 minutes until it starts to thicken. Season to taste with pepper, nutmeg, and salt. Be careful with the salt though because the cheese will bring a lot of saltiness with it. Let cool.

• Preheat oven to 190°C (375°F).
• Cut onions into smaller pieces and add to the milk-cream-sauce.
• Grate both cheeses and add as well.
• Pour into crust and bake for 40-45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting to avoid the cheese from running.

My modifications:

None.

The taste:

It was good. All the guests liked it (or at least they said so).

But it wasn't how I wanted it to be. Having eaten so many slices of Chäswähe (but none of them homemade by me), I have found "my" perfect taste of it. There are millions of different Chäswähe recipes out there, so I was aware that this might not be "it". I will keep searching and will let you know once I found the perfect recipe.

What is your favorite savory pie or quiche?

10/52 Crostata di Pere al Cioccolata

Another chocolate/fruit combination. Something that never gets boring.

At least I hope it also never gets boring for you, my readers.

So this one is a pear chocolate pie.
I saw it on the German TV show "Das perfekte Dinner" ("The perfect dinner") where each week, 5 strangers cook a 3-course meal for each other, one each day, at their homes. 

A couple of weeks ago, a girl named Sandy made an Italian-inspired dinner with this pie for dessert (served with vanilla parfait). The guests were not really over the moon about it but I thought it sounded good.

When a work colleague of mine mentioned last week that she absolutely loves pears, I thought of this recipe again and here we are:

Crostata di Pere al Cioccolata

Adapted from Sandy of "Das perfekte Dinner" (I don't know where she had the recipe from, so if you know the original source, please comment on this post)

Pie crust:

125 g (1.1 stick) butter

200 g (1.6 cup) flour

1 egg

125 g (0.6 cup) sugar

50 g  (1/2 cup) cocoa powder

Filling:

2-3 tablespoons orange marmalade

2-3 pears

Topping:

100 g dark chocolate

50 g (0.4 stick) butter

2 eggs

100 g (1/2 cup) sugar

• For the pie crust, knead together all ingredients. Roll out and put into a prepared pie form.
• Coat crust evenly with orange marmalade.
• Peel the pears, cut into wedges and arrange on crust.

• Preheat oven to 200 °C (390°F).
• For the topping, melt chocolate and butter over hot water.
• Separate eggs. Beat the egg whites until stiff. 
• In a separate bowl, mix egg yolks with sugar. Fold in melted chocolate and stiff egg whites until just combined. Pour over pears.
• Bake until topping is firm.

My modifications:

None. 

But as you can see above, the recipe did not give an exact baking time. I baked my pie for 30 minutes. A little longer would have been good for the crust but would have burned the topping. So my suggested modification is to blind-bake the crust. I knew I should have done it but then didn't... Next time I definitely will.

The result and taste:

It was a real problem to get a piece of this pie on a plate and still have it look like a piece of pie (and not some kind of chocolate mash with pieces of pear in it). I meant to take a piece to work to give to my colleague but there was no way of doing that.
Blind-baking the crust, using pears that are not very juicy, and baking the whole pie a bit longer would probably help.

But the taste! Half-baked chocolate cookie meets juicy pears meets mousse au chocolate. That's the best way to describe what my (half-baked, mushy) crostata di pere al cioccolata tasted like. Divine! 

Who needs looks when you can have all the taste? That's my conclusion for this week.

Did anything you ever baked not turn out quite as planned? But still tasted good? 
Please share!