Raspberry Blueberry Pie

Over the past week we've had a decent amount of snow.

At least compared the complete lack of snow we've had so far this year.  It has actually felt like winter. Which is kinda nuts considering we're more than halfway through January!

Because of the winter-like weather I've been all over comfort food, including an insane Bolognese that I made last night.  We had our good friends the Shacks over for dinner, so I had to make a dessert too.

OK, well I didn't have to, I could have asked them to bring dessert, but to be honest I was looking for an excuse to bake and it's much easier to justify if we're having company.

Cheddar & Tomato Tarts

We have a slew of tomatoes growing in the backyard.

So many green ones that I'm just waiting to turn red.  I can't even explain it.

I haven't been posting garden updates lately because I've been swamped at work and weekends have been devoting to preserving the amazing produce I've been finding at local farmer's markets.

But last week when Bon Appetit linked to this recipe from the most recent issue on their facebook page, I knew that I had to make it with tomatoes from the garden.

Cheese and tomatoes, I mean seriously?!  Two of my favorite food combined into one of my favorite methods of delivery, a pie!  Well it jumped to the top of my list and while I was at the grocery store this weekend I picked up the issue because it has an article on preserving AND an article on summer pies, inaddition to the tomato article that this recipe comes from.  I swear to god the editors of Bon Appetit were thinking of me specifically when they put out this issue.

What do you mean they don't even know who I am?

My YouTube & Retail Debut!

A few month ago those of you that like my on Facebook (and if you don't you'd better get on that) helped me win a pie contest run by Redpath Sugar.  My pie was chosen to be featured at the Canadian Pie Company right here in Toronto!  And as part of winning I shot a video with the Executive Chef of the Pie Company, Keren.  Well it's finally online AND my pie is currently being featured in store until Sunday and maybe longer if you get in there and buy it!

Check out the video to see Keren & I bake together:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie on the Grill

Today, July 5th, is a Pie Party across the web.  It was put out there by the ever fabulous Shauna Ahern, the Gluten-Free Girl.

I think it obvious that I'm a fan of pie, while I haven't made one in awhile I have done a plethora of pie posts since I started this blog.  So when presented with a blogworthy excuse to make one I am all over it.

Here's the glitch, summer is here in full force in Toronto.  80 degree days packed with humidity make my kitchen the last place I want to be when the oven is on.  So what's a girl to do?  The easy answer would be to make an icebox pie.  The problem is my love of fruit pies in a buttery crust will always win out over any graham based crust and pudding type filling that I identify with icepbox pies.

Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

We now take a break from our standard Meatless Monday recipes for a belated birthday sweet recipe.  A few weeks was Carole's, my friend and co-blogger, birthday. On more than one occasion when we have chatted she has mentioned that one of her favorite desserts is Lemon Meringue pie, she admitted even to loving the Shiriff Lemon Meringue Pie mix.  I try to go out of my way to make something special for my friends on their birthday's and aim to make their favorite.  While I'm not completely opposed to mixes for desserts, it just doesn't seem special enough for a birthday.

I have had quite a few lemon meringue pie fails in the last few years, so I was a bit nervous to attempt this one.  Either the lemon doesn't set up or the meringue is just lame or the crust doesn't quite bake right.  I consider myself a pretty excellent fruit pie baker, but anything with a custard type filling makes me a bit nervous.  But this is for a birthday, so I was hellbent on getting it right.  I found a basic-sounding recipe on Epicurious that I tweaked a bit based on other user's comments and decided to give it a go. Lucky for me the Boy has an iPad and let me download the Epicurious App onto it.  If you have an iPad, this app is great for cooking with, you have access to their whole library and don't need to futz around with your laptop or printing out a recipe.  Both the Boy and I use it all the time.

Whiskey Laced Peach Slab Pie for Pi Day

Happy 3.14 or Pi Day as it's more commonly known.  I'm a huge fan of pie so any day where the baking and eating of pie is encouraged is ok by me.  While thinking about a pie for Pi Day I knew I wanted to use the peaches I had frozen at the end of last summer but I also wanted to figure out a way to tie the upcoming St. Patrick's Day into it.   St. Patty's Day to me is all about beer and whiskey.  I wasn't really feeling the idea of beer and peaches, though if anyone has a recipe that proves me wrong on that one I'd love to see it.  But peaches & whiskey?  Why not?

Blood Orange Cardamom Crostata for an early Pi Day

It never fails, blood oranges always transport me back to Florence, Italy 1998. It was then and there that I first had a blood orange.  That I first saw it's gorgeous purplish-red flesh.  It's because of that semester abroad that I have a minor obsession with blood oranges.  Peeling them, eating them, cooking with them reminds me of such a specific time in my life.  A time I long to relive or even just to share with the Boy, who has never been to La Bella Italia, as I so fondly think of it.

It was a time of alot of firsts.  The first time I went to a foreign country where I didn't speak the language, the first time I had even been so far from my family, the first time I was required to cook for myself everyday, the first time I actually enjoyed red wine, my first cooking class and so many more.  It was such an amazing time, to live in and learn about a place, people and culture and to completely fall head over heels in love with everything about it. From the people, to the food, to the landscape, even the random and annoying transit strikes, it all holds a special place in my heart.  Because of the memories this simple piece of fruit (am many other Italian ingredients and dishes) evoke I can't help but snatch them up whenever I see them.

Nutella Ricotta Pocket Pies for World Nutella Day

I first remember eating Nutella sometime in high school, likely at a friends house and remember loving it instantly. The chocolately nutty goodness was my ideal.  I don't ever remember having it at my parents house, either mom couldn't find it, because this was before Nutella could be bought at any grocery store, or she decided we just didn't need another sweet spread on top of peanut butter and jelly.

I then went away to college and my love for Nutella took a back burner to boys, books and beer (not in that order).  My junior year I went to Florence to live and study for a semester and it was then that my true love affair with Nutella began.  My roommate brought out first jar home, just a small jar and we went through it in two days.  See this is what happens when you live upstairs from a bread bakery and your favorite little shopkeeper on the corner carries Nutella.  Throughout the semester we would, on most mornings, buy a loaf a bread and eat half of it in the morning with Nutella and the other half at dinner with olive oil.  But it was that freshly baked bread dripping with hazelnut and chocolate that I really remember and miss dearly.

Happy National Pie Day

Sweet Cherry Apple Pie

Oh how I wish i had the time to bake a pie to post today, but life and work just caught up, so a roundup will have to do.   I am completely obsessed with pie, I love it!  I wish I had the time this month to join in with The Peche on all of their crazy pie baking this month.  It's pretty insanely delicious looking and I highly recommend checking out everything they made.

Recipe Remix: Apple Pie

I love apples and just about any dessert that involves apples, luckily the boy does too and happily deals with my constantly experimenting with apple desserts.   I posted my apple pie recipe over 2 years ago but since I did a pie crust tutorial a few weeks ago and with Thanksgiving coming, it seemed the right time to revisit the recipe to see if I could make it better.  I couldn't be happier that I did because just a bit of tweaking on my part and a bit of inspiration from my sister-in-law really improved upon it and has turned it into my go to apple pie.  

One of the most important thing when discussing the holidays and pies, is what you like on top your slice of pie.  Obviously we are specifically talking about apple pie here.  There are a few schools of thought on this controversial topic.  There are the traditionalists who swear by ice cream.  In Northern New England apple pie is often topped with cheddar cheese.  There are some people who even like it with whipped cream, blasphemy in my opinion.  Being someone who will eat cheese all day, everyday and also growing up in New England, I think the perfect topping is a nice slice of aged Vermont white cheddar.  The boy is adamantly an ice cream kind of guy and despite this difference of opinion, we are able to make it work by agreeing not to force our views on each other when it comes to the all-important topic of apple pie accoutrements.  All this being said, and begrudgingly putting my love of cheese aside, I think the cinnamon sugar topping on this pie would make for a good pairing with a scoop of cinnamon ice cream or even fresh ginger ice cream.  What's your favorite topping for a slice of apple pie, does it cause disagreements amongst loved ones in your house?

How to Make Pie Crust

The holidays are approaching and over the last few weeks I received a few requests for help with pies.  I thought about how it took me awhile to be comfortable making pie crust from scratch and after taking my sister-in-law through the process a few weeks ago, I realized any pie newbie would really benefit from a quick video tutorial on pie crust. So here you go my very first video post.  It's not slick or fancy, but it a first pass.

The video leads you right up to finishing the dough, you can go on from this step and follow whatever pie recipe you are making or you can use one of my pie recipes.  I'm really interested in hearing what you think of my first video.  Is it helpful?  Would you like to see more?  Post in the comments or shoot me an email.

Oh and don't forget to check out Love 4 Lasagna and join us in making 1 lasagna a week for the month of November.  It's a fun way to get creative with a classic and it starts on Sunday.

Enjoy!

Unprocessed: Whole Grain Crusted Pumpkin Pie

I've never been a huge fan of pumpkin pie, but the spices used and the smell of it baking just automatically make it feel like fall and early winter.  That might be because as an American I am used to Thanksgiving coming at the end of November, thus the early winter memories.  Well up here in the Great White North Thanksgiving falls right at the beginning of October.  Though the boy and I were flying solo for Thanksgiving I offered to cook a proper dinner.  My preference for pie would have been apple, but he asked for pumpkin and since I still think of it as his Thanksgiving, I went with what he wanted.  We'll see if he defers to my preference when American Thanksgiving comes around.

Now the thing about pumpkin pie is I've never actually made one.  Not only was I trying this pie for the first time, I had to figure out how to make it unprocessed and I really wanted to get it on the first try.  On top of all of that I've never had the best luck with custard pies, I'm not sure if it's a patience thing or what, but I've often failed at getting them to set up properly.  Basically I had alot of things working against me on this one.  It would have been easiest to just find a recipe and follow it, but of course I couldn't do that.  I did a ton a research and ended up putting together what is one of the best pumpkin pies I've ever had.

Peach and Brie Pie

As we enter into the last weekend of summer, I've been thinking about my favorite summer dessert, what it is and what I can make a great end of summer dessert.   Playing off of my peach obsession (which was on full display here) and my love of pie, a peach pie seemed the obvious answer.  I wanted to play with it though, add a savory twist to make it special.  I then remembered a post from Steph over at The Cupcake Project that I saw last summer with mini Peach and Brie Pies.  I always thought they sounded delicious and decided to make my own full-size version.

I've always loved the way cheese pairs with fruit and when building a cheese board I always include some of my own jams and/or sliced fruit.  It's that whole sweet and savory thing we all know I love.  I think the best pairing comes when you are able to taste both the fruit or jam and the cheese without one overpowering the other.  Some fruits are too sweet to be paired with a cheese as mild as brie.  My Peach Basil jam, for instance is a bit too sweet, my Golden Plum Riesling is perfect with a gooey delicious round of baked brie.  While I think jam is too sweet, I think the mild sweetness of a peach is potentially perfect with brie cheese, especially when it's warm and runny as it would presumably be in a pie.  My main concern was making sure the pie is just sweet enough to be a dessert pie, but not cloying. My goal was for that perfect blending of fruit and cheese in each bite.

YWPWT - Orange Chocolate Walnut Tartlette

This month's theme is brought to us by the ever fabulous Jacque at Daisy Lane Cakes:

Nuts about Pie!!

Let’s get creative with nature’s protein and nutrient powerhouse, the humble nut. Peanuts, cashews, almonds, pecans, pistachios… whatever you chose, let’s use nuts as a prominent feature in next month’s pie. Whether it’s a nut-based shell that perfectly complements the filling, or a nut-studded filling, I can’t wait to see what all you creative bakers come up with.

Don’t forget about coconut, which is a nut too, right?

And for those with nut allergies, feel free to use substitutions… or skip the nuts and get artistic with peanut shaped crust… or whatever. Be creative! Whatever you do, have fun and we’ll see you next month!


Now I like nuts, but I have to be honest I wasn't that jazzed about making a nutty pie. I love peanut butter but I already made a peanut buttery pie for my Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous Pie. Thus I was faced with a dilemma, what to do, what kinda of pie would be tasty and satisfying and would use up some ingredients I already had on hand. In looking in my cupboard I found a huge bag of walnut halves making my choice if what nut to use easy. I decided on a walnut crust and since I love chocolate and walnuts, it turned into a chocolate & walnut crust that I made with walnuts, cocoa powder, butter and an egg. I also found some lovely organic Valencia oranges from a Mama Earth box that were on the verge of turning and though Chocolate and Orange are a classic combo so I made them into a delicious orange curd, following this recipe for lime curd. To make it even more rich, like that was necessary!?! I folded the orange curd with a mascarpone whipped cream mixture. It truly was a dish I just threw together and didn't pay much attention to recipe or amounts, which is why I am not writing it up here.


The folks at the office gobbled up three 4" tarts and I kept one at home for the boy and I. I ate my half while he was still at work was really happy with the flavors, it could use a little more orange I thought but it was a solid start. The boy was not a fan, he admitted to not liking chocolate and orange together and felt the crust was too chocolaty (as if that's even possible) and the custard needed more orange. Well, you can't please them all, but I liked what I came up with considering I thought about bailing this month. Head on over to You Want Pies With That after August 7th to check out what the other talented ladies created. Enjoy!

Sweet Cherry Apple Pie

I've admittedly been a bit distracted by personal stuff of late. Nothing to worry about dear readers, just stuff that I'm letting get in the way of some delish cooking and baking and then posting about it. I'm over that now or I'll at least pretend I am and will get some of the yummy things I've been making lately posted for you all to enjoy and hopefully make yourself. The unfortunate thing about my distraction is that I missed the deadline for this month's You Want Pies With That challenge. Please head on over to the site and check what some of the other ladies have been baking for their Summer Favorites pies. ****UPDATE! The ever fabulous Holly at PheMomenon was able to squeeze me in despite my last post. Yay! ****

A few weeks ago at the cottage, the boy and I were planning dinner for Saturday night, which of course included his faves steak and potatoes and when we landed on dessert, he requested a pie but kept it pretty open-ended. I decided I wanted to see what kinds of fruits they had at the market in town before I settled on anything. While his sister bought beautiful strawberries, they looked too good and fresh to do anything other than just eat, no cooking of additional sugar required on these beautiful berries. So to the market we went to get stuff for dinner and on a hunt for some delicious looking fruit. The boy is a fan of apple pie and since I haven't made one in awhile I thought it would be nice to do an apple pie with some other fruit. Right when I walked in the front door of the market I saw the most beautifully ripe sweet cherries and decided upon a Sweet Cherry Apple Pie.

YWPWT: Childhood Memory Pie

This month's You Want Pies with That theme was chosen by the fabulous Kittymama:

Childhood Memory Pie: Bake a pie or tart that is inspired by a favorite childhood memory. Maybe you spent a summer vacation in Maine so it's a blueberry pie; or your grandmother always baked lemon meringue, or you remember your first taste of apple pie ever. Tell us a little story that will help us walk down memory lane with you and relive some happy childhood memories!

For me this was a tough one, my Grandma (the one whose recipes I have often posted on here) always had pies around. The ones I remember were the refrigerator pies (even though I know she made fruit pies too), you know the kind with a cookie crust and some kind of pudding or custard filling. While they are definitely a childhood memory and delish, I have really been craving and for the most part prefer fruit pies. That being said it's hard to make a pie without thinking of my grandmother, no matter what kind, so that almost makes every pie a childhood memory pie for me. It was then that is came to me. Peaches! For as long as I can remember peaches have been up there among my favorite fruits, plus I remember for a few summers after my father started working in South Carolina that he would ship a massive crate of the biggest juiciest peaches up to us and we would have a ball making peach crisps and cobblers and even the occasional pie. So for the memories of my grandmother's pies and those massive crates of delicious peaches that I looked forward to every summer, I came up with this month's pie, a modern twist on a classic.

YWPWT: Family Favorite Pie

This month's You Want Pies With That Challenge is brought to us by Natalie of Oven Love. She chose the theme:

Family Favorite Pie

This month's theme comes from
Natalie at Oven Love

Everyone's family has traditions, including favorite desserts. What's your family favorite? Is it your mom's brownies, your grandmother's banana pudding, your brother's famous chocolate chip cookies? Whatever that favorite dessert is, take it and turn it into a pie! If it already is a pie, make the recipe with your own special twist. If you're feeling extra energized and willing to divulge family secrets, include the original recipe!

When I first started thinking no clear family favorite came to mind for me, then I realized the one dessert we have at least once a year, that everyone gobbles up while it's till hot and even eats the leftovers for breakfast is Apple Crisp. Now we are pretty specific about apple crisp, we are of the no oatmeal variety, just butter, sugar, flour and cinnamon and super golden and crispy! Now, to turn that into a pie, I could have just made an apple crisp pie, sounds easy enough, maybe a bit too easy! I then remembered that the boy loves Apple Blueberry pie. So in a effort to combine my family's favorite with his I developed these Apple Blueberry Crisp Tartlettes. It was still pretty easy, but I liked being able to incorporate something I grew up on with something that's newer.


Apple Blueberry Crisp Tartlettes
makes 2 6" Tartlettes

1 sheet of puff pastry - defrosted
1 large granny smith apple
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup of blueberries - washed
2 1/2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 all purpose flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp salt

1. Place oven rack one step about the middle (where you'd normally bake a pie). Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Peel and core apple and slice thinly. Place in a large bowl. Add in blueberries and toss with lemon juice.
3. Unroll puff pastry and cut two circles (approximately 6" in diameter). Place circles on a prepared cookie sheet (sprayed with cooking spray and line with parchment). Place a single layer of apple slices on the dough, leaving 1/2" border around. Top with as many blueberries as will stay. Fold and press the edges, covering just the very edge of the apples.
4. In a small bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Rub in the cold butter making crumbles. Top each tartlette with the crumbles.
5. Place in oven and bake for 30-45 minutes, until puff pastry and crisp become golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes. Serve while warm.

I wish I could have had my family try this one to get their take on it. I loved it! The boy liked it but though some honey drizzled on top before baking would've been better, he found it to be not quite sweet enough. I think it's because I used granny smith apples, which I always use in my pies but not often in apple crisp. A sweeter apple (like and empire or macintosh) and piling a bit more of the crisp on top of the pie would give him the sweetness he is missing. That being said he gobbled up the tartlette and I enjoyed it, so I'm calling this one a winner. Don't forget to check out the other entries over at You Want Pies With That. Enjoy!

YWPWT: Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous Pie

For April's Pies With That Challenge the theme is Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous chosen by two love ladies, Natashya from Living in the Kitchen with Puppies and Jacque from Daisy Lane Cakes:

We’ve watched their movies, gone to their concerts, read about them in the history books. Now’s our chance to bake them a pie.

Presenting, “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” Pie.

That’s right, you get to go all out in the kitchen this month, making a special pie based on someone famous. Or you can pretend you’re making it for them (it’s always nice to have a pie idea at the ready, just in case Brad Pitt decides to drop by, you know.) Your famous person can be a celebrity, movie star, rock star or group, sports star, or even historical figure. Basically, anyone who’s had more than just 15 minutes of fame.

A few examples of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous pie might be:

Madonna, Put Some Pants On Pie

Trump Needs a New Hairdresser Pie

George Clooney Moussey Pie

Bogie and Bacall We'll Always Have Paris Pie

Have fun and we can’t wait to see what you come up with.

I had some trouble coming up with something for this one and after much thought I finally settled on something old school. Everyone knows that Elvis' favorite sandwich is peanut butter and banana. Peanut butter and banana is also one of my favorite combinations so what better time to turn it into a pie. I made a couple small, individual pies, but wrote the recipe for one standard 9" pie.


Elvis' Falling in Love with Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie

Single Pie Crust - I used my go to recipe and just froze what I didn't use
2 3/4 cups chilled whipping cream, divided
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup peanut butter chips
2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter - not the all natural kind or freshly ground
3 Tbsp sugar
2-3 bananas - cut into 1/4" slices

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Roll out crust for a 9" pie plate. Lay in plate, prick holes all over with a fork. Line crust with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes covered. Then remove foil weights and bake for another 10-15 minutes until golden brown (I could have baked my mini pies a bit longer to get the crust more golden)
2. Remove crust from oven and let cool completely (for a couple hours).
3. Using a double boiler melt peanut butter chips with 3/4 cup of heavy cream, stirring the whole time. Once melted, remover from heat and whisk in vanilla and peanut butter. Let cool until just lukewarm.
4. Beat 1 cup of cream with 2 Tbsp of sugar until just before stiff peaks form. Carefully fold in peanut butter mixture in 3 additions.
5. Spread 1/2 of the peanut butter mousse into the cooled pie plate. Top with a layer of sliced bananas. Top with remaining peanut butter mousse and refrigerate overnight or for at least 4 hours.
6. Just before serving beat 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 Tbsp sugar and a drop of banana creme flavoring. Beat until stiff. Spread on top of pie, leaving some of the peanut butter mousse exposed. Top with a few more banana slices.

I was nervous that the peanut butter flavor would overpower the banana flavor, which is why I added the banana flavoring to the whipped cream. It was actually all very subtle, smooth and delicious, which is how I cam up with the title. Elvis' (Can't Help) Falling in Love with You is such a smooth song that it fit perfectly with this pie that after one bite, you can't help but fall in love with. It initially tastes just like a banana creme pie and finishes with a great peanut butter flavor. Overall this one is a winner and one I will make again.

Head on over to You Want Pies With That after April 8 to see what the other ladies came up with.

Enjoy!

YWPWT: Literary Pie

This month's You Want Pies with That Challenge was chosen by Mary the Food Librarian and is exactly what you would expect from The Food Librarian:

"Literary Pie (really, what did you expect from the Food Librarian?) Libraries have a wide range of books and materials...and "literary" simply means the written word. Your pie can be inspired by Shakespeare, John Grisham, the latest Chick Lit, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, or anything else that came from the fabulous imagination of your favorite author. The Food Librarian says: "Bonus points from me if you've visited your local library in the past year!" :) Have fun, and eat your words!"

I was really excited by this challenge as I have always loved books and have been recently thinking alot about food inspired in books. My first idea and attempt was inspired by A.A. Milne's Winne the Pooh and was a honey-custard pie in a whole grain crust. Let's just say it was a complete and utter failure. Me and custard/creme pies just aren't friends yet and it will take more time than I had this past weekend to work it out. Not being one to take failure lightly I decided to regroup and re-concept and came upon a book that was a childhood favorite of mine, The Velvet Room by Zilpha Keatley Snyder.


The Velvet Room is the story of Robin, a young girl who is one of many children of a family of migrant workers. He father finally gets a permanent job on the McCurdy ranch in California. It is on the ranch that Robin finds the old and abandoned Las Palmeras house and what becomes her beloved hideaway, the Velvet Room. It is a grand old library full of books with lovely velvet drapes and benches (which why Robin named it as such) where she is able to escape from her everyday life and get lost in a book.

The inspiration from the pie came from the day Robin and her siblings were all sent to work pitting apricots. The following quote was so visual to me and provided exactly the inspiration I needed for my pie:

"When Robin picked up the first apricot, her mouth watered. It was always like that at the first of the season. They tasted wonderful for the first day or two, but after that you were sick of the very smell of them. The apricot was still warm from the sun and so ripe that the juice ran down Robin's chin as she bit into it. She wiped her chin on her skirt and started to work." (p. 120 iUniverse edition)

I knew I had to do something with apricots and decided I wanted something very rustic and simple, since Robin and her family would not be eating fancy-schmancy sweets, if any at all. It was with this thinking that I decided to make an Apricot Crostata.

Robin's Apricot Crostata

PATE SUCREE - (Sweet Pastry Dough) from Clemence Gosset at Gourmandise Desserts

350g butter
150g sugar
1 egg
500g flour
1 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt
¼ tsp assorted spices (optional- cinnamon, ginger, etc)

FILLING
1 cup good quality apricot jam
zest from 1 lemon
1 blood orange - peeled and sliced into rounds, make sure pith is removed

1. In a mixer, beat butter and sugar with the paddle attachment (I used the dough blade on my food processor).
2. Add the egg and beat well. Add flour, spices (I used ginger) and vanilla (again this was all done in my food processor).
3. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hr. Roll out your dough (you'll need about 2/3 - 3/4 of the dough you made) to an 11" circle and carefully transfer to a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Mix jam with lemon zest and spread onto crust, leaving a 1 1/2" border. Gently fold the border over the jam to enclose the dough, pleating it to make a circle. Evenly space the orange rounds just around the inside of the crust.
5. Bake in the center of the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool for 1 hour before serving.


I added the blood oranges slices because they were on sale this week at my grocery store and I thought it would be nice color and the acid from the lemon zest and the oranges balanced out the sweetness of the pastry and jam. Plus since the book takes place in California, I figured I could take the liberty of using oranges.

I learned how to make this pastry a few years ago when I took a baking class with Clemence Gossett of Gourmandise Desserts. She had just started giving classes and was working out of a small kitchen in Venice, CA. He business has grown since then and I have regretted not getting to any of her new classes in her new space as it was this class that gave me, a self-proclaimed non-baker, the confidence to bake more. She swears by using a scale in baking and since I've gotten one I have to agree. It allows for more precise measurements and is much less messy that using measuring cups and spoons. But onto the pastry, it is perfect and so easy. We learned to make this for use in lemon curd tarts and chocolate tarts, but it can also be used for delicious butter cookies or as I found for a crostata. If you are in the LA area take one of Clemence's classes they are great!

The boy loved this as the crust tastes alot like shortbread. I loved the flavor and the ease of this. I think this is a great dessert to throw together for a dinner party as it's easy and can be made in advance. I'm actually grateful my first attempt didn't work out because it allowed me to make this delicious treat. Enjoy!

YWPWT: Resolution Breaker Pie

For this months You Want Pies With That challenge the theme is "Resolution Breaker Pie - A pie that sounds so decadent and delicious that you simply can't resist. A crust so buttery and flaky you quickly call dibs on a 2nd slice. A filling so gooey and creamy that you dig out your fat pants without remorse. A pie so fantastic you begin hatching a plan to keep the whole pie for yourself...... of course telling the entire family that the dog/cat/drunk Uncle Ed ate the whole thing and sadly there will be no pie tonight."

As I began to think about this pie I thought about what my own resolutions for the year are. Among other things, losing weight is probably up there for everyone (making pie a bad thing to make) and when trying to lose weight it is often a good idea to cut alcohol out of your day-to-day diet. I am a fan of the South Beach diet, which doesn't allow for any alcohol for the first two weeks. I start it on Monday but promise I'll have tons of SB friendly posts in the coming weeks for anyone who wants to try with me.

Anyway, in thinking of my perfect resolution breaker pie it had to involve chocolate and alcohol, two things I won't be having soon. My favorite thing to pair with chocolate (other than alcohol) is raspberry, so I decided to top my chocolate tart with raspberry curd. It is a tart in four parts: crust, raspberry layer, chocolate layer and whipped cream. Below is the recipe for my concoction, I am calling it "Really I'll Start My Diet on Monday Chocolate Raspberry Tart"

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Hazelnut Shell (adpated from epicurious.com)

1/2 cup hazelnuts, toasted and any loose skins rubbed off in a kitchen towel, then cooled completely (for how to toast hazelnuts click here)
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla

1.Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Pulse hazelnuts with flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor until finely ground (be careful not to grind to a paste), then add butter and pulse until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Add egg and vanilla and pulse just until mixture begins to clump.
3. Press dough evenly over bottom and up side of tart pan and chill 10 minutes. Line tart shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until pale golden along rim, about 15 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake shell until bottom and side are golden, about 10 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.


Raspberry Curd (make while tart shell is baking)
I used this recipe (it's in grams i converted the measurements based on what I weighed on my scale)

150 grams raspberry puree - 5.3 oz (I'm not sure if you can buy this premade but I just used a hand blender to puree some frozen raspberries I thawed)
30 grams lemon juice - 1/8 cup or juice from 1/2 lemon
170 grams sugar - 3/4 cup
4 ounces butter - 1 stick
6 egg yolks

In a medium pot, boil the raspberry puree, lemon juice, half of the sugar and the butter. In a bowl, whisk the remaining sugar and the egg yolks together. Temper the egg mixture by adding in a little of the raspberry puree mixture, whisking constantly. Add this mixture to the raspberry puree mixture, then boil, whisking constantly. Strain and cover.


Chocolate Kahlua Filling

3 oz bittersweet chocolate - chopped
6 oz semisweet chocolate - chopped
10 Tbsp butter
3 eggs
3 Tbsp Kahlua
3 heaping Tbsp sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 300F. In a double boiler melt the butter and chocolate together.
2. In a separate bowl mix beat the eggs until fluff. Mix in the Kahlua and sour cream.
3. Add the egg mixture to the chocolate mixture, mix until combined and pour into the prepared tart shell. Bake for 40 mins in preheated oven.
4. Let cool for 10 mins on a cooling rack and then gently spread the raspberry curd on top of the still warm tart. Let sit for at least an hour to let both fillings set.
5. Serve topped with Kahlua spiked whipped cream (2 Tbsp Kahlua to every cup of cream)


This was the most decadent and rich tart I've had in awhile. The raspberry adds just enough freshness to the richness of the chocolate. Although I bet the chocolate on it's own would be pretty fabulous.

This recipe calls for a ton of eggs (10 to be exact) and since I was home over the holidays and we drove, I was able to pick up some of my favorite eggs Eggland's Best. They only sell them in the US and are the closest to farm fresh eggs you can get at the grocery store. I highly recommend them for any and all of your egg needs. We picked up a couple dozen at the Vermont/Quebec border for me to have for the next week or so. I love them just scrambled with a bit of salt and pepper or in an uber decadent dessert :) Enjoy!