When I was in college, I worked at a restaurant that was famous for their peanut butter pie.  We sold more slices and complete pies than anything else on the dessert menu.  I have been looking for a peanut butter pie that would remind me of this delicacy of yesteryear and, with this recipe, I just may have.

Ingredients:

2 3-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1 c. creamy peanut butter
2 c. powdered sugar
12-oz. container frozen whipped topping, thawed
9-inch graham cracker pie crust

Blend cream cheese and peanut butter together until smooth and creamy; set aside.  Mix powdered sugar and whipped topping together; blend into cream cheese mixture.  Spread in pie crust.  Refrigerate until firm, at least 3 hours.  Before serving, top with whipped cream.

I use Martha Stewart’s recipe for homemade whipped cream (for pie topping):

1 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar

In a deep mixing bowl, beat cream until soft peaks form.  Sprinkle sugar over cream; beat until soft speaks return.  Do not overbeat. 

For the fresh whipped cream, chill the whisk or beaters and bowl in the freezer for 15 minutes.  I allowed the pie to sit on the counter for 10 minutes before I added the cream, cut and served.  Next time I may crush some Reese’s Peanut Butter cups and sprinkle over the whipped cream.  Enjoy!

xo–me

I decided since it was the new year, I should make an egg nog pie.  It seemed like the right time to try this pie that is one of the world’s favorite new year’s beverage.  I am not a huge fan of egg nog but the ingredients imply it’s going to taste like a heavier custard pie with lots of nutmeg.  The man of the house also loves egg nog so I was game.

I rolled out the crust and baked it with no problems.  The challenge and ‘burning down the house moment’ came when I put the filling in the crust and returned it to the oven.  I was delicate when covering the edges of the pie crust for this second round of baking.  I was cautious walking from the counter to the open oven.  And then it happened, I touched the side of the oven door and jerked.  Guess what happened to the liquid egg nog filling of the pie?  It jerked too.  Or rather it jumped, just a bit, but enough to make a small mess on the bottom of the oven.  I did my best to clean it up but clearly the smoke monster from the island found it’s way into my kitchen.

So the house smells like the place was on fire.  But not before I got a lovely pie from the oven.

Ingredients:

9-inch pie crust (Nany says the best recipe is on the back of the Crisco can)
3 eggs
14-oz. can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/4 c. hot water
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Preheat oven to 425.  Bake pie crust for 8 minutes; remove from oven and set aside.  Whisk or whip remaining ingredients together, pour into crust and bake for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350 and bake 25 additional minutes or until a knife inserted in the center removes clean.

I had to bake the pie for 10 additional minutes than the recipe called for because, as I say all the time, every oven is different.  The house still smells a little funky this morning but I am hoping once I cut this pie (yes pie for breakfast), it will make it all worth it.  Be good to yourself today!

xo–me

You may alter the recipe by sprinkling coarse salt over the top before the chocolate hardens if you have found yourself on board the sweet/salt train of late.

Ingredients:

1/2 +3/4 c. butter
heaping 1 c. all-purpose flour
heaping 1/4 + heaping 1/2 c. baker’s sugar
7 oz. semisweet chocolate, broken into pieces
3 Tbsp. dark corn syrup
14 oz. condensed milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease and line with parchment paper the bottom of a 9-inch square pan. 

Put butter, flour and sugar in a food professor and process until the mixture starts to bind together.  Press into the pan and level the top.  (I roll an orange over the mixture to even it out)  Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. 

While baking, place remaining butter, remaining sugar, corn syrup and condensed milk in a heavy bottom pan.  Heat gently until the sugar has melted.  Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and let simmer for 6-8 minutes, stirring until very thick.  (I used a double boiler the first time I made caramel.  It’s an easy way to insure you don’t burn it.)  Pour over shortbread and let chill in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until firm. 

Finally, melt the chocolate and let cook, then spread over the caramel.  (This is where I sprinkled a small amount of coarse salt over the chocolate.)  Put back into refrigerator for 2 hours or until set.  Cut shortbread into 1 inch squares using a sharp knife and serve. 

To make pretty pieces you must have a very sharp knife.  I also dipped mine in boiling water before each cut.

Enjoy!

xo–me

With many recipes on deck to try, I decided to go for a lemon drizzle bar with a small change–insert orange in place of lemon.  The results are terrific!  Try grapefruit, lime or your favorite citrus.

Ingredients:

2 eggs
generous 3/4 c. baker’s sugar
2/3 c. butter
finely grated rind of 1 medium orange
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. milk
1 1/4 c. 10x sugar, plus additional for dusting
1/4 c. fresh orange juice

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease a 7-inch square cake pan and dust with flour.

Put eggs, sugar and butter in a bowl and beat until smooth and fluffy.  Stir in the rind, then fold in the flour lightly and evenly.  Stir in the milk, mixing evenly, then spoon into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 45-50 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Remove and stand the pan on a cooling rack.

While cooling, make the syrup by heating gently together the 10x sugar and orange juice.  Stirring gently until sugar dissolves.  Do not boil.

Prick the warm cake all over with a fork and spook the hot syrup evenly over the top, letting it be absorbed.  Take your time with this step.  Cool completely in the pan, then turn out the cake, cutting into pieces.  Dust with 10x sugar before serving.

The orange used for the rind made exactly 1/4 c. orange juice.  Let me know what fruit you use.  Enjoy!

xo–me

I love this recipe for it’s simplicity and rich flavor.  It’s a good basic starter for anyone new to the kitchen.

Ingredients:

1/2 c. unsalted butter (I always use unsalted, you do what you prefer), softened
generous 1/2 c. baker’s sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 c. flour
1 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350.  Line cupcake pan with paper liners.

Put butter and sugar in a bowl and beat together until light and fluffy.  Gradually beat in the eggs.  Sift in the flour and fold in gently.  Fold in the milk.

Spoon batter into cupcake liners filling slightly more than 3/4 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and firm to the touch.  Transfer to cooking rack to allow to cool.

I fill the liners more than 3/4 full so I have large full cupcake tops.  It’s makes frosting them much more fun and I can do all sorts of things with them.  And it took me three hours to make them because I allowed them to completely cool before I dreamed of frosting (and I made these as well).  Enjoy!

xo–me

Ingredients:

2 egg whites
1/4 c. granulated sugar (more to taste if desired)
1/8 tsp. peppermint extract (you can use any flavor)

Beat together all ingredients at mixer’s highest setting until stiff peaks appear.  Frost cake.

I did not allow the frosting to get peaks as I wanted to place crumbled Oreo cookies on top of the cake and felt the peaks and cookies would produce something not quite pleasing to the eye.  The frosting was very tasty and easy to make.  My palate prefers the sinfully sweet flavor of a 10x sugar frosting but when I am in a pinch, I will not hesitate to use this frosting.

As you can see, the shape of the pan has created a beautiful cake.  Experiment with flavors!  I would have loved to created a nice banana bavarian creme to top the chocolate cake and slice fresh bananas as a topping.  Or whipping creme and fresh berries.

For those who want a pan, I have seen many on eBay, etsy and other sites on line for as low at $7.99.  Enjoy!

xo–me

Meanwhile, this morning, I want to share with you some basic tips to remember when making pastry.  I could always use these refresher courses and perhaps you do as well.  If this is your first time baking these items, use these words as a basic foundation.

A Two-Crust Pie.  Divide the pastry into two equal pieces.  Roll out each piece about 1/8 inch thick and use one for lining a greased pie plate.  Trim the edges and moisten with water.  Add the filling.  Cover with the remaining round of pastry, trim, and pinch the edges well together and make a vent to allow the escape of steam.  Roll out any remaining pastry and cut it into leaves, etc. for decorating the top.  Brush over with a suitable glaze before baking. (My suitable glaze is usually an egg white and some sugar.)

A Lattice-Topped Pie.  Divide the pastry into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.  Roll out the larger piece and cover a greased pie plate.  Add the filling.  Roll out the remaining pastry and cut it into strips 1/2-3/4 inch wide.  Arrange the strips, either flat or twisted, in lattice-fashion over the pie, moistening the ends where they join the pastry base.  Crimp the edges or cover them with a narrow strip of pastry.  Glaze either before or after baking.

A Roll.  Roll out the pastry into a rectangular shape 1/8-1/4 inch thick.   Spread the filling to within 1 inch of the edge all round, roll it up like a Swiss Roll and press the edges firmly together.  Bake on a greased baking sheet.

A Turnover.  Roll out the pastry 1/8-1/4 inch thick.  Stamp into rounds with a four-inch cutter, place the filling on one half of the pastry, moisten the edges and fold the remaining half of the pastry over, crimping the edges and pricking the surface with a fork.  Glaze and back on a greased baking sheet.

A cherry pie would be a lovely way to say I love you.  Be good to one another!

xo–me

Ingredients:

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 c. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 c. chopped walnuts (I don’t use walnuts but you can!)
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
3 large eggs
1 c. vegetable oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 c. unpeeled, grated zucchini (about 1 lb.)

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, cocoa, walnuts and chocolate chips  In a medium bowl, whisk eggs slightly.  Whisk in oil and vanilla.  Stir in zucchini and add mixture to dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly.  Pour into 2 lightly sprayed loaf pans.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes.  Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes.  Run a knife around the edges and remove from pan.  Serve!

Honey, jam, butter, just about anything is delightful on this bread.  Or you can eat it like I do, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  Enjoy!

xo–me

Today I am sharing a pudding whip recipe that was originally intended to be served in lovely parfait dishes.  I decided instead to put it in a graham cracker crust with some low fat whipped topping to make a pie.

Ingredients:

1 3-oz. Jell-o orange gelatin package
1 c. boiling water
1/2 c. cold water
1 package Jell-o vanilla instant pudding
2 c. cold milk
1 graham cracker pie crust
whipped topping
orange zest

Dissolve gelatin in boiling water; add cold water.  Stir until gelatin is completely dissolved.  Chill until very thick (I allowed it to chill for three hours).  Meanwhile, prepare instant pudding with milk according to package directions.  Let stand until set, about 5 minutes.  When gelatin is very thick, whip with electric mixer until fluffy and doubles in volume.  Fold in pudding, blending well.  Pour into crust and allow to chill until firm.  Top with whipped topping and decorate with a pinch of zest.  Serve.

I used orange but you can use lemon, lime, raspberry, whatever flavor you fancy.  The orange and vanilla flavor reminds me of a dreamsicle.  It’s a very filling slice of pie and, in my mind, better for me than that entire plate of brownies I have been daydreaming of.  Enjoy!

xo–me

Ingredients:

1 oz. brandy
1 oz. Sambuca
1 oz. spiced rum
1 oz. vodka
splash lemon juice
1 oz. orange juice

Pour brandy, Sambuca, rum, vodka and lemon juice into a cocktail shaker over ice.  Add orange juice, shake and strain into a chilled glass.

Enjoy it with some popcorn and sno-caps.  Kidding…

xo–me