Creme Sue-lee: Sweet Pie Fillings

Caramel Pecan Tart

How to Make It

Step 1 - Arrange pecans in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 5 to 7 minutes or until lightly toasted. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.

Step 2 -Pulse flour, powdered sugar, and 3/4 cup butter in a food processor 5 to 6 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat mixture evenly on bottom and up sides of a lightly greased 11-inch tart pan with removable bottom.

Step 3 -Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack 15 minutes or until completely cool.

Step 4 -Bring brown sugar, honey, 2/3 cup butter, and whipping cream to a boil in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir in toasted pecans, and spoon hot filling into prepared crust.

Step 5 -Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Cool on a wire rack 30 minutes or until completely cool.

Can be made into bars: Prepare recipe as directed, pressing crumb mixture evenly on bottom and 3/4 inch up sides of a lightly greased heavy-duty aluminum foil-lined 13- x 9-inch pan. When completely cool, using the aluminum foil as handles, carefully lift the tart from the pan, and transfer to a serving tray. Cut into squares.



	Pumpkin Pie ¾ cup granulated sugar 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground cloves 2 large eggs 1 can (15 oz.) LIBBY'S® 100% Pure Pumpkin 1 can (12 fl. oz.) Evaporated Milk 1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell Whipped cream (optional)

Directions

MIX sugar, cinnamon, salt, ginger and cloves in small bowl. Beat eggs in large bowl. Stir in pumpkin and sugar-spice mixture. Gradually stir in evaporated milk. POUR into pie shell. BAKE in preheated 425°F oven for 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 350°F; bake for 40 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted near center comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 2 hours. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Top with whipped cream before serving.

Strawberry Pie

One baked pie crust. Put a layer of strawberry glaze on the bottom of crust. Wash and core strawberries and place them in the glaze. Top with chocolate drizzle.

Razzleberry Pie

2 pie crusts
2 cups raspberries
2 cups blueberries
2 cups blackberries
3/4 cup granulated sugar
pinch salt
1 tsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp cornstarch
1 egg beaten

Picture courtesy of Freida Loves Bread

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
On a lightly floured surface roll out one pie crust and fit into a 9" pie plate., leave edges of dough hanging over the edge of pie plate.
In a pan, combine berries, sugar, salt, lemon juice and cornstarch and stir to combine. Cook over medium heat until filling thickens. Cool.
Place cooled berry mixture into pie plate. Roll out remaining pie crust and place over the top of berry mixture.
Crimp edges of pie crust and cut 3-5 small one inch slits into top of pie crust.
Brush crust with egg mixture.
Bake for 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

Picture courtesy of Painless Cooking

Crust
1 1/2 Cups flour
1 TBS Sugar
1 tsp salt
Place in a pie tin and mix with a fork
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
2 TBS milk
Mix the oil and the milk until they are creamy, then pour over the flour mixture. Mix well until moist. Take fingers and press dough on sides and bottom of pan. Make sure that it is fairly thin. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees or until slightly brown.
Topping
Take 1 12 ounce bag of frozen raspberries. Sprinkle 1/2 cup sugar over the berries and let thaw. Drain the juice and save. For topping take the juice and place it in a sauce pan with 1 TBS of cornstarch. Stir constantly over medium heat until thickened (boiling). Add the berries and let cool.

Filling
8 ounces Cream Cheese
1 Cup powdered Sugar
1 Cup cream
For filling cream the cream cheese and powdered sugar together. Set aside. Whip the cream until it peaks. Fold in the cream cheese mixture with the chipping cream.. Pour into your pie crust. Put topping on and refrigerate.

Coconut Cream Pie

Ingredients

1 pie crust recipe

For the Toasted Coconut Topping

1/2 cup flaked sweetened coconut

For the Coconut Custard

1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups half-and-half
5 egg yolks
3/4 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Whipped Cream

Instructions

Prepare pie crust according to blind-baking instructions of recipe.

For the Toasted Coconut Topping

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Place into 350º F oven for 8-10 minutes until coconut has just begun to turn brown.
Set aside to cool.

For the Coconut Custard

Pour coconut milk and half-and-half into a liquid measuring cup. Add egg yolks and whisk together with milks. Set aside.
Add sugar and cornstarch to a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk egg and milk mixture together once more and then slowly begin to add to the sugar and cornstarch, whisking together constantly.
Bring custard mixture to a boil. Switch to a rubber spatula or wooden spoon and continue to stir constantly. Boil one minute.
Remove from heat and add butter, coconut, vanilla and salt.
Spread custard into pie crust. Cover lightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator until set, about 30-45 minutes.
Spread whipped cream on top of coconut custard. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
When ready to serve, top with toasted coconut.

Slab Apple Crumb Pie

Photo Courtesy of Two Peas & Their Pod

Filling

4 pounds sliced cored peeled apples

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1tablespoon lemon juice

Topping

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/3 cups packed brown sugar

2 tablespoon granulated sugar

Steps

Roll out crust and put in a 15 x 11 sheet pan.
In large bowl, toss filling ingredients. Pour onto sheet pan.
In medium bowl, use pastry blender or fingers to mix butter, 2 cup flour and the brown sugar until a crumb forms. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Sprinkle 2 tablespoon granulated sugar on

Bake 45 to 55 minutes or until pie crust and crumb topping are deep golden brown and filling begins to bubble. Transfer to cooling rack to cool.

Lemon Blueberry Galette
Blueberry Lemon Cheesecake Galette
Crust
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup butter, chilled
1/2 tsp salt
5-8 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp coarse sugar (for topping)

Filling
2 cups blueberries
4 oz cream cheese
1/3 cup sugar
2 tsp lemon zest
1 9-inch pie crust
Make the crust: Whisk together flour and salt in a large bowl. Cut in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender, until mixture resemble very coarse sand and no pieces larger than a large pea remain. Using a fork, stir in ice water until dough almost comes together into a ball. Press dough into a ball with your hands and wrap in plastic.
Chill for at least 30-60 minutes before using.
Make the tart: Preheat oven to 400F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Roll out pie dough into an approximately 10-inch circle on a lightly floured surface and transfer to baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, beat together cream cheese, sugar and lemon zest until well-combined. Spread cream cheese mixture over the pie crust, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border around the edge of the pastry.
Spread blueberries over the cream cheese mixture in an even layer. Fold up the outside edge of the crust over the blueberries, crimping the crust slightly to ensure it holds its shape. Brush the edge of the crust with water or milk and sprinkle coarse sugar over the whole tart.
Bake at 400F for 45-50 minutes, until fruit is bubbling and the crust is deep golden. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour before slicing.
Serves 8.

Lemon Meringue Pie

From the cluttered recipe drawer of Barbara Terrill - who has been known to consume one of these all by herself in a single day!

In a saucepan, combine 1 heaping Cup of sugar, 3 heaping TBS of corn starch and 1/4 tsp salt. Blend in 1/2 Cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, then 1/2 Cup cold water and 3 well-beaten egg yolks. This should be very smooth. Add 2 TBS butter or margarine.

Gradually stir in 1 1/2 Cups boiling water. Bring to a boil over medium heat - no higher - stirring constantly. Boil two or three minutes. Stir in 1 tsp grated lemon peel and a few drops of yellow food coloring (my mom does this but I never have!) Partially cool while preparing meringue.

Meringue: Beat 3 egg whites until fluffy (or 5 egg whites if you like a lot of meringue.) Add powdered sugar (2 TBS per egg white) gradually. My mom swears that the powdered sugar prevents the meringue from "weeping." But a sad meringue has never offended me, so I use granulated or powdered arbitrarily..

Put lemon filling in 9 inch pie shell that has been previously baked. Top with meringue - spread to the edges for a good seal. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes or until nicely browned.

Banana Cream Pie

Ingredients

Crust

2 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/3 cup sugar

1/4 cup mashed banana

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Filling

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1 1/2 cups whole milk

3 large egg yolks

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ripe bananas (about 1 1/2 pounds total), peeled, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices

Preparation

For crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Stir graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and mashed banana in large bowl to blend. Add unsalted butter and stir to moisten evenly. Press onto bottom and up sides of 10-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Chill until firm, about 30 minutes.

Bake crust until set and pale golden, about 15 minutes. Cool completely.

For filling:

Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk, then egg yolks. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add vanilla bean. Whisk over medium-high heat until custard thickens and boils, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter and vanilla extract. Discard vanilla bean. Transfer custard to large bowl; cool completely, whisking occasionally, about 1 hour.

Stir custard to loosen, if necessary. Spread 1 cup custard over bottom of prepared crust. Top with half of sliced bananas, then 1 cup custard, covering bananas completely. Repeat layering with remaining bananas and remaining custard. Chill banana cream pie until filling is set and crust softens slightly, at least 8 hours and up to 1 day. Cut pie into wedges and serve.

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Ingredients

Crust

21 chocolate sandwich cookies (such as Oreos)

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cut into pieces, room temperature

Mousse

12 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Pinch of salt

3 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream

1/4 cup sugar

Chocolate shavings (optional)

Preparation

For Crust:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter 9-inch-diameter springform pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely grind cookies in processor. Add butter and process until mixture is evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture onto bottom and up sides of prepared pan to form thin crust. Bake crust 5 minutes. Transfer crust to rack and cool completely.

For Mousse:

Combine chocolate, vanilla and salt in processor. Bring 1 cup cream to boil in heavy small saucepan. With processor running, gradually pour hot cream through feed tube and process until chocolate is melted and smooth. Transfer mixture to large bowl. Cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally.

Beat 2 cups cream and sugar in large bowl to stiff peaks. Fold into chocolate mixture. Pour mousse into prepared crust. Chill until set, about 6 hours. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead.)

Beat remaining 3/4 cup cream in medium bowl to firm peaks. Transfer to pastry bag fitted with medium star tip. Pipe rosettes of cream around edge of cake. Garnish with chocolate shavings.

Thursday, March 7

Sweet Pie Fillings