Baking, Eating, Judging

There's been a lot of pie on this blog over the years. I probably share them here as often as I make them which is usually once in the summer and again around Thanksgiving. Over the weekend, we held our fourth annual pie contest. Usually there are two pies in the competition, one by Ray and one by me. This year we decided that eating lots of pie a few days before Thanksgiving sounded like a great idea, so we invited friends and family to join us in baking, eating, and judging.

We ended up with seven pies and ten adults. There were pumpkin pies, apple crumble, key lime, and both chocolate and banana cream. Everyone voted for their favorites in best crust, best filling, best non-traditional, and best over all. The competition was close and I am sure that every pie got at least a few votes. After announcing the winners for each category, it was clear that with so many pies and such full bellies we all won.


I will say that the recipe I am about to share did not win best overall but it tied for best crust and best non-traditional. After working at a bakery over two Thanksgiving seasons, I am really comfortable making a classic butter crust, so I decided to go out on a limb and dreamed up the chai spiced pumpkin pie with chocolate crust and coconut cream. I wanted to make the pie gluten and dairy free but I wasn't sure if I could make it from an idea to a finished pie. The number one rule of our pie contest was that no disclaimers or other discussion of your pie were allowed before judging happened. You know, Julia Child's rule that you never apologize if your food doesn't turn out well? It is so tempting to explain what went wrong before sharing something that you make, though usually no one else notices. We all, mostly, held our tongues about the possible short-comings of our creations and instead filled our mouths with pie.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Pie with Chocolate Crust and Coconut Cream

This pie is gluten and dairy free (not vegan because it uses eggs). I adapted the crust from this recipe, substituting coconut oil for butter and almond flour for flour. I was inspired to try the spices in this filling recipe, but I used coconut milk instead of creme fraiche or cream. This recipe could be made with regular flour, butter, and milk but it was fun to make something a little different that some our friends who couldn't eat gluten or dairy would also enjoy. Either way you make it, you will have a dense chocolatey crust and a thick, creamy filling.

Chocolate Crust
1 cup almond flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
4 ounces coconut oil
1 egg
4 ounces semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350'  

Lightly grease a 9 inch tart pan with coconut oil. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, salt and spices. Add coconut oil and beat with a mixer on medium speed until the coconut oil is mostly incorporated. Add the egg and beat until it forms a soft dough. Refrigerate for 20 minutes (for easier pressing) or press the dough into a tart pan without refrigerating. Make sure the dough is pressed evenly on the bottom and sides of the pan. Prick the tart dough on the bottom in a few places with a fork. Place a piece of parchment paper over the tart pan and fill the inside of the tart with dry beans, uncooked rice, or pie weights. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the parchment and weights and bake for another 3-5 minutes until the crust seems mostly dry. Once the crust is out of the oven, sprinkle the chocolate chips over the bottom of the tart crust. Let them sit for a few minutes and then spread the melted chocolate evenly over the bottom of the tart. Set aside to cool.

While the tart crust is baking or cooling, make the filling.

Chai Spiced Pumpkin Filling
15 ounces pumpkin or butternut squash (canned, or baked and then pureed until smooth)
8 ounces coconut milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs

If you are using canned pumpkin you can skip the step of cooking the pumpkin and just combine the ingredients in a bowl. If you are using baked pumpkin (not from a can) then combine it with the coconut milk, cornstarch, spices, sugars, maple syrup, and salt in a sauce pan. Stir over medium heat until the pumpkin is shiny and slightly thicker about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat, scrape into a bowl, and let cool for 5 minutes. Add the three eggs to the pumpkin and whisk until everything is completely smooth and combined. 

Pour the pumpkin into the cooled tart shell and bake for 30 minutes or until the pie is set in the middle. Let it cool for several hours and refrigerate overnight if you are not serving it until the next day. Garnish with coconut cream.

Coconut Cream
1 can of full fat coconut milk that has sat long enough to separate the thick coconut milk from the thinner coconut water
1 tablespoon of powdered sugar

Carefully open the can of coconut milk and scoop out the thick coconut milk into a bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the sugar and beat on medium high until the coconut milk has thickened to a whipped cream consistency. 
 

Simple Pleasures

 

On Saturday morning, Ray and I rode our bikes down to the farmers' market. When I say down, I mean it is an easy coast of a couple miles downhill all the way. Since we had to carry everything all the way back up the hills on our bicycles I tried to restrain myself but I was eager to bring home lots of produce for preserving. Ray carried the box of tomatoes on his rear rack and I loaded my panniers with a jar of honey, cucumbers, tomatillos, zucchini and beets. Luckily the raspberries fit right on top. Unless it is raining or snowing hard, traveling by bicycle is nearly always more fun and satisfying than going by car. On a perfect summer day even uphill on a heavily loaded bike is wonderful and I am always glad for the reminder that I should be biking more.



 

When I have the better part of a day to spend in the kitchen, I tend to do a lot of projects at once. I had a few vegetables to freeze, granola and hummus to make for the week, and I wanted to make something great for dinner. I come across so many intriguing and tempting recipes that I usually have ideas for meals well in advance but on Saturday I searched through most of my cookbooks and several websites without finding the perfect ways to cook corn, peaches, and raspberries. Luckily, summer the best time to keep it simple and enjoy the ripe fruits and vegetables without too much fuss, so we had corn on the cob.

 

With the fruit I was hoping for elegance and something special but ended up making a cobbler that took no more than 15 minutes to put together. While it was unfussy and easy to make, the sweet and tart flavors of the baked peaches and raspberries mingled into a gorgeous base for the sweet, light biscuit dough. It was just the right ending to a day of beautifully simple pleasures. 

Raspberry Peach Cobbler
Adapted from the Moosewood Restaurant Celebrates cookbook. You can easily substitute other summer berries or fruit here. 

Fruit Filling
4 large peaches
1 pint fresh raspberries
2/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons flour

Biscuit Topping
1 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup buttermilk (or 1/3 cup milk with 1/2 teaspoon vinegar)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat the oven to 400' Peel and pit the peaches and thinly slice them. In a pie plate or a 9-inch square baking dish, combine the sliced peaches, raspberries, sugar, lemon juice and flour. Mix together until everything is evenly distributed.

In a bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and using your hands, a pastry blender, or knife cut the butter into the flour until it resembles a coarse meal with a few larger chunks. In a measuring cup, beat together the buttermilk, egg and vanilla. Pour this into the flour and butter and stir to create a soft dough. Spoon the dough onto the top of the fruit in evenly spaced spoonfuls. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean. Serve warm, especially with vanilla ice cream.

Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

Lately I've seen various blog posts asking what do you like to make in stead of buy? What do you want to create in your kitchen, instead of getting from a box? I could answer this question in lots of ways. I certainly hold my weekly yogurt and yearly salsa making dear. But at the moment I would toss that all aside and say: ice cream!! 

I'm a little biased right now. I recently made the most glorious raspberry chocolate chip ice cream. It is perfectly smooth and creamy, tasting like a summer day with no obligations, no deadlines, nothing to do but stroll through green fields, lie on a beach or get lost in a book. I could wax poetic for pages about this dreamy dessert.

 


It is always so tempting to tell you how quick and easy a recipe is, or how much more economical it is to make something from scratch. But really, are those the only reasons I make food from scratch? Aside from how delicious it is, I revel in the satisfaction of turning disparate ingredients into something new and the connection that I have to my food when I am creating it.

It's true that making ice cream at home takes a little more planning ahead than just grabbing a carton from the freezer case, but I like the mindful dessert aspect of that. If you make it you won't be tempted to buy something that is not nearly as good. Even a custard based ice cream doesn't take much longer to come together than stirring a pasta sauce, it just requires a bit more attention, an overnight (or a few hours) chill, and a bit of churning.

I hope, though, that you'll need no convincing and that the promise of raspberry infused cream studded with shards of bittersweet chocolate is more than enough reason to make this yourself. 



Raspberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
This recipe is based on David Lebovitz's vanilla ice cream recipe which I also use here. For the raspberry, I used a half pint jar of raspberry preserves I made. It wasn't as thick as jam, but I think jam would work just fine. Make sure it is seedless, or press the jam through a strainer to remove the seeds.

5 egg yolks
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
a pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 pint (8 ounces/ 1 cup) raspberry jam (seedless or seeds removed) 

1 cup chocolate chips or chopped chocolate (preferably bittersweet, but it's up to you)

Whisk together the egg yolks in a bowl. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Once the milk is hot and sugar dissolved, lower the heat. Pour some of the heated milk into the eggs and whisk them together. Pour the eggs into the saucepan of milk and cook, still over low heat, stirring with a (heat proof) spatula to scrape the bottom and allow everything to cook evenly. Continue to stir until the custard thickens. When it thickens enough to coat the spatula, it is ready. Pour the custard into a bowl and add the cream and jam. Whisk together until it is smooth. Refrigerate until completely chilled, overnight if possible.

While the custard is chilling, make the chocolate chips. Melt the chocolate and spread it over a parchment lined baking sheet. Let the chocolate cool until solid. You can put it freeze it which will make it really easy to break into chips and cold when you mix it into the ice cream.

When the custard is cold, freeze it in your ice cream maker. Before storing the ice cream in the freezer, stir in the chips. Freeze until ready to serves. Makes about 1 quart.