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German Chocolate Pie

I came across a recipe for this pie and it immediately caught my attention. Mostly because I have a good friend who loves German Chocolate cake; in fact, I made one for him for this birthday one year. So I thought I would give it a try. I only modified it slightly. Used my own pie crust recipe and added some good Dutch-processed cocoa. Warning! This is really rich so a little goes a long way! Enjoy!

 

German Chocolate Pie

Filling:

  • 4 oz sweet chocolate, chopped
  • 2 oz unsweetened chocolate, chopped
  • 1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa
  • 1 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 1 cup chopped pecans

Filling:

  • 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cubed
  • 2 large egg yolks
  • 1 cup sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Direction:

Preheat your oven to 400°. Roll out the pie dough using my recipe (which will make 2 pies) and line a pie plate. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Line the pie dough with parchment paper and pie weights (I just use dry beans). Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully take the weight and parchment out and put it bake in the oven for another 10 minutes or until light brown. Remove and cool on a wire rack.

Preheat your oven to 350°. Put the chopped chocolate in a microwave bowl and nuke to 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Allow it to cool slightly until just warm to the touch. Whisk in the milk, yolks, and vanilla until smooth. Stir in the chopped pecans. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Once it’s cool, combine the brown sugar, cream, and butter in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. In a small bowl whisk the yolks. Slowly whisk in a small amount of the hot sugar/cream mixture. Pour the yolks into the remaining sugar mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes over medium heat until the mixture is thick. Stirr in the coconut ad vanilla, allow to cool for 10 minutes. Pour over the pie filling and sprinkle with the 1/2 cup of chopped pecans. Refrigerate until completely chilled. Enjoy!

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Lemon Cream Pie

A coworker of mine LOVES lemon. She’ll eat fresh lemon every day, pretty much. So she was having a bad week and I decided to make something lemon for her to cheer her up. I had a bunch of mascarpone cheese and some leftover lemon curd. So I decided to make her a lemon cream pie. This is one of those recipes that I completely made up, which I don’t do a whole lot. But it turned out perfect. Added bonus? No baking! Enjoy!

Lemon Cream Pie

  • 6 tbsp unsalted butter
  • 1 5 oz package of graham crackers
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 16 oz mascarpone cheese, at room temp
  • 1 cup lemon curd (see my recipe here)
  • 2 tbsp hot water
  • 1 pkg Knox unflavored gelatin
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Directions:

Put your stand mixer bowl and whisk attachment into the freezer. This will help with the whipped cream.

Melt the butter in a microwave dish, about 20 seconds at a time. I usually cover mine with a wet paper towel, just in case it “pops” and splatters the microwave. In a food processor crush the graham crackers until they are fine. Combine with the melted butter and 1/4 cup sugar. Press into a pie or square cake pan, whichever you prefer.

In a medium bowl, beat together the mascarpone cheese and lemon curd.

In a small bowl, combine the gelatin and hot water. Stir until the gelatin has completely dissolved. Add into the cheese/curd mixture, beat until smooth. Pour into the pan.

Pull out your bowl and whisk from the freezer. Beat the heavy cream, starting out slow and increasing the speed as the cream thickens. When it has soft peaks slowly beat in the powdered sugar. Beat until firm peaks form. Spead on top of the lemon pie mixture. Chill for at least 1 hour and then enjoy it.

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No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

So this recipe is quite different than the last one I posted. I received this from a friend of a friend and thought I’d give it a try. I modified the original slightly and will probably tweak it a little more. Even though it’s a pie you make it in a spring form cake pan. Which worked really well for building it up but the graham cracker crust stuck to the bottom on me, even though it had a stick of butter in it! I’ll have to work on that part but overall it was delicious. Enjoy!

No-Bake Peanut Butter Pie

  • 1 1/2 cups crushed graham crackers
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
  • 16 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 2 cups creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cup powdered sugar, divided
  • 2 tsp real vanilla
  • 2 cups heavy whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp. Kahlua
  • 3 1.55 oz Hershey chocolate bars

Directions:

Crush the graham crackers in a food processor until pretty fine. Add in the brown sugar and melted butter. Press into the bottom, and slightly up the sides, of a 9″ spring form pan.

In a medium bowls beat together the cream cheese and peanut butter until smooth. Add in 1 cup of the powdered sugar and the vanilla. Beat until smooth.

In another bowl, I put mine with the beaters in the freezer for 30 mins, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add in the remaining powdered sugar and Kahlua, beat until stiff peaks form.

Gently fold in 2/3 of the whipped cream into the peanut butter mixture. Once it’s all incorporated, pour it into the spring form pan.

In a small microwave proof bowl, nuke the chocolate bars for 30 seconds at a time until completely melted and smooth. Pour on top of the peanut butter mixture and smooth out. Pour the remaining whipped cream on top and smooth out. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

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Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

To get ideas for cooking, and to post to this blog, I frequently ask people I know what their favorite dessert is. Recently one of those was peanut butter. Since I’ve already made peanut butter cookies I decided to try coming up with something else. Lucky for me I had recently come across a recipe for peanut butter pie. Which was fine but I happen to like chocolate with my peanut butter so I added a layer to the top. It turned out pretty good. Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

  • Pastry for a single-crust pie (see previous blog post)
  • 1 1/2 cups light corn syrup
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 tsp kosher salt
  • 4 large eggs, at room temp
  • 1/2 tsp real vanilla extract
  • 4 1 1/2 oz Hershey chocolate bars

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350°. On a lightly floured workspace roll out the dough and line a pie pan with it. Chill while making the rest of the pie.

In a large bowl, beat together the corn syrup, sugar, peanut butter and salt until creamy. Beat in the eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Pour into the pie shell and bake for 60-70 minutes. It will puff up, that’s fine. It will also fall once you take it out, that’s fine too. You want it to be almost set, so a knife inserted in the middle will come out almost clean.

Allow to cool. Break up the Hershey chocolate bars and microwave in a microwave proof bowl for 30 seconds at a time, stirring between, until melted and smooth. Pour over the top of the cooled pie and smooth out. Eat.

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Coconut Chocolate Pie

I made this recipe as a follow up for my Hawaiian friend who had a birthday. I figured, why only celebrate once? It was one of the recipes suggested by my friend, Google. I only modified it slightly. Instead of using a store bought pie crust, I used the recipe I’ve posted before in my Dutch Apple pie for the crust.  I really liked that the coconut flavor was subtle, not in your face. Enjoy!

 

Coconut Chocolate Pie

  • 1 pie crust
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 1 14 oz can coconut milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 cup cold water
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • 1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup powdered sugar
  • 1/4 cup creme de cocoa liqueur, divided in half

Directions:

Bake the pie crust in a 350° oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. You want to poke the bottom and sides with a fork first.  I weight mine down with parchment paper and some old dried beans. This prevents it from puffing up but can take longer to bake. Allow to cool completely.

In a medium pan; whisk together the milk, coconut milk and sugar. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat then reduce to low. Combine the corn starch and cold water, I like to use a jar for this. Shake well until it’s mixed (no lumps of cornstarch). Slowly pour into the milk mixture, whisking constantly. Continue stirring until it thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes.

Use a microwave safe bowl and nuke the chocolate in 20 second interval, stirring between, until the chocolate is melted and smooth. Add in 1/2, or 2 Tbsp, of the cocoa liqueur.

Divide the milk mixture evenly, I like to use 2 identical liquid measuring cups for this. Add the chocolate to one of them. Pour one of the mixtures into the cooled pie shell and smooth out. The original recipe called for the chocolate first but I missed that and poured the coconut first, I don’t think it really matters but I liked the light/dark/light layering. Pour the second mixture and gently smooth out. Refrigerate for at least an hour, longer is better.

Place a mixing bowl and beaters, or whisk attachment if using a stand mixer, in the freezer for 15 to 20 minutes. Once cold, beat the heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add the powdered sugar and remaining cocoa liqueur and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread on top of the pie and serve.

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Dulce de Leche Pie

So I was requested (more like a demand) that I make a Dulce de Leche recipe. I was pretty sure what was wanted was actually a tres leches cake but that’s another story (turned out I was right). I’ve modified it a bit, like most recipes I make, and I think it turned out pretty good (or so I heard since I didn’t get any). The original recipe called for white chocolate and I didn’t think that really paired well with the leche. The crust is based on the recipe I posted earlier for dark cocoa cookies. Just let them dry out for a day or too. And an added bonus? There’s not baking involved. Enjoy!

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Dulce de Leche pie

Crust:

  • 14 to 16 oz of dark cocoa cookies, crushed (amount depends on your pie tin size)
  • 8 Tbsp melted butter

Filling:

  • 10 Oz chocolate chips
  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • 8 oz cream cheese, at room temp
  • 1 cup dulce de leche (I make my own)

Topping:

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar
  • 1 Tbsp chocolate vodka or liqueur (optional)

Directions:

Pulse the cookies in a food processor until fine. Add the melted butter and mix well. Pour into a pie tin and press firmly into the button and up the sides to create a thick crust. Chill.

Place a mixing bowl and beaters, or whisk attachment if using a stand mixer, in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.

Using a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate by nuking for 20 seconds at a time; stirring in-between until it’s completely melted and smooth. Beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the melted chocolate and beat again until smooth. Add the dulce de leche and beat again, until smooth.

Take the bowl out of the freezer and beat the heavy cream until it starts to form peaks. Add in the powdered sugar and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold into the cream cheese/chocolate/leche mixture until well combined. Pout into the pie shell and refrigerate for 4 to 6 hours, or until set.

Before serving; put a mixing bowl and beaters, or whisk attachment if using a stand mixer, in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes. Beat the heavy cream until soft peaks start to form. Add the powdered sugar and chocolate vodka, if using, and beat until stiff peaks form. Spread on top of the set pie and serve.

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Dutch Apple Pie

So recently I was away at a conference and on the last day there was a bunch of fruit that the resort had put out for us that our staff hadn’t taken. So I was like, we paid for this so I’m going to take it. I scored 4 Granny Smith apples and a bunch of bananas. The bananas I can freeze, that’s easy; but I wanted to use the apple before they went bad (and didn’t really want to freeze them). So I decided on making a Dutch apple pie. Like many recipes, I switch it up a little. I like pumpkin pie spice mix instead of the individual spices most recipes call for. I also add a little Calvados, which is an apple brandy. The alcohol burns off and I find it enhances the apple flavor. Enjoy

Dutch Apple Pie

Dough
  • 2 1/2+ cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 Tsp sugar
  • 1/4 Tsp kosher salt*
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and cold
  • 1 large egg, lightly beaten
  • 2-4 Tbsp cold water
Filling
  • 1 lemon, juiced
  • 4-5 apples (depending on the size, you want about 3 lbs)
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted sugar
  • 2 Tbsp Calvados brandy
  • 1 1/2 Tsp pumpkin pie spice mix
Streusel Topping
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/4 Tsp kosher salt*
  • 1 stick unsalted butter
*You want the salt to be fine. Kosher salt runs the gamut from really course to fine, I just put it between my palms and rub it; it comes out pretty fine.

Directions

For the dough: I use my food processor and pulse the flour, sugar and salt. Add in the cold butter and continue to pulse until it looks like cornmeal with pea-sized bits of butter. Beat the egg with 2 Tbsp of cold water and add it in. Pulse until the dough just comes together. If it’s dry add a little more water, just a bit at a time; you don’t want it to be too moist or the dough won’t be flakey. Dump out onto a lightly floured board and gather it into a round disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour (or up to 2 days).

For the filling: Peel and slice the apples into wedges, I like mine fairly thin. Put in a medium bowl and add in the lemon juice and 2/3 cup of sugar. Toss to coat and set aside. In a large skillet, melt the butter. Add in the apples and cook, over medium-high heat, until the sugar dissolves (about 2 minutes). Turn the heat down to medium-low, cover, and cook for another 7-8 minutes (until the apples have softened). Use a colander and the bowl you had the apples in to strain off as much of the liquid as you can. Put that liquid back in the skillet, with the 2 Tbsp of Calvados, and cook over medium heat until it has thickened and turned golden brown. This will take about 10 minutes.

Pour the apples out of the colander back into the bowl and add the syrup from the skillet. Add in the pumpkin pie spice and mix well. Put it in the refrigerator to cool. It can last for up to 2 day if you cover it, 6 month if you want to freeze it.

For the Topping: In a medium bowl combine the flour, brown sugar and salt. Add in the butter and combine with your hands until it clumps together.

Assemble the pie:  Pre-heat your oven at 375° with the rack in the lower 3rd setting. On a lightly floured board, roll out the dough until it’s roughly a 12″ circle (or just slightly bigger than your pie pan). Gently press it into your pie pan (a 9″ pan is what I use but you can use slightly larger or smaller). Cut most of the excess off the edges, crimp if you want, and then add the apple filling. Take the topping and drop clumps of it on top until it’s completely covered.

Put it on a cookie sheet, just in case of overflow, and bake for about 60 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Cool before eating or you’ll burn the heck out of your mouth.

 

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Cinnamon-swirl Apple Slab Pie

I got this recipe from watching Martha Stewart. Again I modified it slightly but not much. I added a little calvados, which is apple based brandy. Also more cinnamon, it didn’t taste very cinnamony the first time I made it, so I added cinnamon to the apple filling as well as the topping. Be warned! This thing is huge! But incredibly tasty. It’s a good recipe for taking to a large party. The picture isn’t the greatest but I forgot to take it until I was at work with a bunch of coworkers waiting to dig in. Enjoy!

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Cinnamon-swirl Apple Slab Pie

Dough (double the recipe, make in 2 batches)

  • 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 1/2  Tsp kosher salt
  • 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut in small pieces and cold
  • 7 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Directions

In a food processor; pulse the flour, salt, and sugar until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal with some pea-sized pieces or butter remaining. Drizzle in 5 Tbsp of water and pulse to combine. Add more water, 1 Tbsp at a time, and pulse until the mixture holds together when pinched.

Form into a rectangle and wrap in plastic wrap. refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Slab Apple Pie

  • 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour plus some for dusting
  • 6 Tbsp unsalted butter (4 at room temp and 2 cut into small pieces and cold)
  • 2 Tbsp ground cinnamon
  • 4 Lbs pie apples (I used Granny Smith) cut into 1/4″ slices
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 Tsp kosher salt, divided 1/4 & 1/4
  • 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup Calvados (apple brandy)
  • 6 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • Sanding sugar

Directions

On a lightly floured board, roll out one rectangle of dough into a 12″x17″ rectangle (or the size of your rimmed baking sheet). Transfer to the baking sheet, pressing it into the bottom and up the sides. Fold any overhanging under and around the edge.

In a small bowl, combine the room temp butter, brown sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, and 1/4 Tsp salt. Roll out the second rectangle of dough to 12″x16″. Spread the butter mixture all over the dough. Starting at the long edge, roll it up tightly into a log. Transfer to another baking sheet. Refrigerate both doughs for at least 1 hour.

Pre-heat your oven to 425° with the rack in the lower third and a foil-lined baking sheet on a rack below that. In a large bowl combine the apples, lemon juice, sugar, 1 Tbsp cinnamon, flour, 1/4 Tsp salt, vanilla and calvados. Toss to coat.

Fill the pie crust on the baking sheet that you refrigerated. Dot with the cold butter.

Cut the dough log into 1/4″ slices, rotating with each slice to keep them round. Arrange the slices over the apple mixture, slightly overlapping until covered. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, until firm.

Brush the top of the pie with the egg you’ve beaten and sprinkle with the sanding sugar. Bake for 20 minutes so the top crust will set. Reduce the temp to 375° and bake for another 1 or until the crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling. Cool before eating.

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Mexican Pecan Pie

I got the idea for this from watching Pati’s Mexican Table. It intrigued me even though I am not a fan of pecans. I’ve changed it up just a little, made my own dulce de leche caramel sauce. Added a little bourbon and some espresso powder to enhance the chocolate flavor. Enjoy!

Mexican Pecan Pie

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 Tsp sugar
  • 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into cubes and cold
  • 1/4 cup cold water
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 cup dulce de leche sauce
  • 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup light corn syrup
  • 4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/2 Tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1 Tsp espresso powder
  • 1 oz bourbon
  • 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
  • 1/3 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate

Directions

In a food processor, I love my Cuisinart Food Processor, pulse the flour, pinch of salt and sugar. Add it the cold butter and continue to pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add the cold water a little at a time until it just starts to come together. You’ll know it’s good when you squeeze a handful and it stays together. You don’t want it to be too wet. Form into a round disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least an hour.

Roll the dough out to about 12″ round. Gently press it into a pie pan and crimp the edges, cutting off any excess dough.

In a medium bowl beat the eggs until foamy, about 1 minute. Add in the dulce de leche, brown sugar, corn syrup, melted butter, salt, cinnamon, and espresso powder. Beat for another minute. Add in the pecans and chocolate, stir to combine. Pour into the pie pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, loosely covered with foil, in a 375 degree oven or until set. You’ll know it’s done when you can insert a knife in the middle and it comes out clean.

Have some extra chocolate or dulce de leche syrup? Grate the chocolate on the top or drizzle with the dulce.