YWPWT: Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart
July 7, 2009 at 4:27 am | In You want pies with that? | 9 CommentsTags: blueberries, pie, tart, You want pies with that?
I’m back. It has been a while since I participated in So You Want Pies With That. Life (and an ever slowing metabolism) gets in the way sometimes.
This month our theme is summer. There are million ways to go with this one. “lemon pie to celebrate the sun I haven’t seen in months;” “my kids are home all summer rum soaked pie,” etc. But I chose to honor two summer specific things: fresh berries and hot kitchens. While I can find a banana, apple or pear year round, fresh berries only make an appearance during the summer. I consider it my duty to gorge on them accordingly.
And let’s face it. Who needs the stress of keeping butter ice cold for pastry dough in July? Not to mention an extra hour with a hot oven…Not me.
So, I present Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart. It is chock full of fresh berries and almost (!) no bake. I wish I had a picture of a slice but it was gone quickly on the Fourth. I had overnight visitors and errant fireworks to worry about. Photography fell off the radar. Between the graham cracker layer and the blueberries is a thin layer of cream cheese filling. The result? Delectable (and easy).
Blueberry Cream Cheese Tart
Crust
- 10 graham crackers
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 4 tablespoons melted butter
Cream Cheese Filling
- 6 oz. cream cheese (room temperature)
- 2 tbps. heavy cream
- 3 tbsp. sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
Blueberry Topping
- 4 c. fresh blueberries
- 3/4 c. sugar
- ¼ c. water
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
Preheat oven to 350. Butter or spray 9 inch tart pan. Grind graham crackers and sugar in food processor. Add melted butter and stir to mix. Press graham cracker/butter mixture into pan. Cook for 10 minutes. Cool.
Whisk together the cream cheese, heavy cream, sugar and vanilla. Set aside.
In a small saucepan, combine 2 c. berries, sugar, salt, water, and cornstarch. Cook over medium heat for a few minutes until liquid thickens and turns clear. Remove from heat and add remaining blueberries and lime juice.
Spread the cream cheese layer over the crust. Spoon on the blueberry mixture. Refrigerate for an hour. Enjoy!
YWPWT: Tortilla Pie
March 14, 2009 at 5:22 pm | In You want pies with that? | 12 CommentsTags: cumin, pie, tortilla
Despite my lacking photography capabilities (still camera-less and using laptop), I am back for the March You Want Pies With That. This month the pie was supposed to celebrate herbs and spices.
My natural inclination would be to go with cinnamon or nutmeg or anything normally associated with a sweet delectable pie (snickerdoodle pie immediately came to mind). BUT, and it’s a big one, I gave up most sweets for Lent. I am far too weak to make a succulent sweet pie and not even taste it.
So, I decided to showcase the spices I probably use more than any others: Cumin and chili powder (chipotle in this case). I don’t know if they are my favorite but I use them over and over and over. I also threw in some cilantro which I love and usually have around.
Clearly, we have deviated from sweet. There is no real recipe. The crust is made of flour tortillas. The filling is black beans, onion, garlic, red pepper, cumin, chipotle chili powder, oregano, salt and tomatoes. Saute all that and then top it with some cilantro and a mexican cheese mix. Pop it in at 350 for about 20 minutes. Voila! Tortilla pie!
YWPWT: Resolution Unbroken
January 5, 2009 at 7:55 pm | In You want pies with that? | 2 CommentsThis month’s theme for You Want Pies With That was the ultimate resolution breaker pie. A big apology to our winners this month. I really wanted to make this pie and I had some good ideas…but…I am still a little baked out from the holidays. AND I really couldn’t face a rich luxurious dessert just yet. I am sure there are some great ones and I plan to be back next month.
YWPWT: Christmas Time is Here Pie
December 1, 2008 at 8:23 am | In You want pies with that?, recipes | 12 CommentsTags: Charlie Brown Christmas, custard, You want pies with that?
“Isn’t there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?!”
“Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about…
Lights, please.”
If you recognize those lines then you will know exactly what inspired this pie. I am going sentimental with this one. Sure, I thought about a crazy Grinch inspired pie that would excuse any baking or decorating deficiencies I have, but I let the holiday spirit take over.
This month our You Want Pies With That? challenge was to create a pie based on your favorite holiday song. I love – LOVE - A Charlie Brown Christmas. I watched it with my parents when I was a kid. I watched it with my roommates in college. One of my greatest joys in the holiday season is watching it with my kids, who love it. My love for it even managed to survive the year my older son was two and he insisted we watch it on DVD until Valentine’s Day.
This pie is my ode to the opening song, Christmas Time is Here. The second I hear the opening notes I am instantly in a holiday mood. To my everlasting delight, my husband bought the Charlie Brown Christmas songbook and plays them for us all through December. (I would like an explanation of how we got from Vince Guaraldi to Yo Gabba Gabba).
The top layer is vanilla custard with edible glitter to invoke the ice on the frozen pond. The bottom layer is chocolate custard flavored with Peanuts hot cocoa. Because what do you absolutely need after ice skating? Hot cocoa. 
Mom and son pronounced it awesome. I would love to have a picture of them enjoying it but, since the sun makes only a brief half-a** appearance this time of year, I will not subject you to another dark picture (for now).
Don’t you love the skating Snoopy? My husband has a freak savant talent of being able to draw Peanuts characters…and only Peanuts characters. He can’t draw anything else but he managed this free hand! Awesome, I think and much appreciated.
If you celebrate Christmas and haven’t seen Charlie Brown Christmas, first crawl out from under your rock, then purchase a TV (go ahead and get the one that comes with the DVD player – you don’t have time to shop around) and then head to Blockbuster. NOW. A teaser below…
Double Custard Pie
Vanilla Custard
Ingredients
- 1 C. sugar
- 1/3 C. flour
- 1/4 tsp. salt
- 2 C. milk
- 3 egg yolks (lightly beaten)
- 2 tbsp. Butter
- 2 tsp. Vanilla
Directions
Mix the sugar, flour and salt in bowl. In saucepan, heat milk to scald. Whisk in flour mixture. When it starts bubbling scoop a couple of spoonfuls into the egg yolks. blend thoroughly and add back to the pan. Let it begin bubbling again and cook for about one more minute. Remove from heat and add the butter and vanilla. Cooll until you can add it to an already cooked pie crust. I like mine chilled in the fridge.
Chocolate Custard
Add four tablespoons of cocoa powder or use 1/2 cocoa powder with 1/2 hot cocoa mix. Follow the same directions for the vanilla custard.
To make a double custard, halve the amounts above. I made the chocolate first and let it chill in the crust overnight before making and adding the vanilla layer.
YWPWT: Anarchy in the UP!!!*
November 6, 2008 at 2:20 am | In You want pies with that? | 8 CommentsTags: cake, pie, You want pies with that?
*Parts of this post may not be suitable for impressionable readers. Hee hee.
That would be United Piedom, in case you were wondering. This month’s You Want Pies With That? Challenge was a fashion themed pie. And so we have Punk Rock Pie.
Let’s think about this for a minute. Did I really have any other choice? Really? Baby was in the corner on this one. We all know my artistic/decorating skills are subpar at best. I was going to come up with something to compete with these other bakers and their perfect pie crust leaves and artistic swirls of whipped cream and so on? Exactly. So, I had to go the other way. Completely. This pie doesn’t want to be pretty or delicate or glazed with a simple syrup of spring water, organic sugar and freshly grated kumquat. *%&# that! It is saggy in the middle, crumbly on the outside and sporting a (sort of) purple mohawk.
And don’t try to pigeonhole the ingredients either, suit. (we don’t need your stuffy rules, a**h&#$). Is it pie? Cake? Candy? Nothing in this pie is a classic “pie ingredient.” The crust is an unholy mixture of pretzels, honey nut cheerios and butter. Cheerios for breakfast? Maybe for the bourgoisie.
The filling is chocolate cake loaded with an assortment of leftover Halloween candy…caramels, snickers, butterfinger, Hershey bar and peanut M&Ms. It sagged in the middle under the weight and oozed out a gooey glob when cut. Perfect.
Nothing refined about this one.
I asked my tasters for an appropriate expression to go with the punk pie. This is what I got…
There are no measurements. That doesn’t fit the aesthetic here, people.
A bunch of mini pretzels, a bunch of cheerios, a few tablespoons of sugar and of melted butter. Process the pretzels, cheerios, and sugar in the food processor into fine crumbs. Stir in the melted butter. Press into the pan you are using and stick in the fridge.
Cake pie filling
1.5 cups of AP flour 1 cup sugar 1/3 c. cocoa salt baking powder 1 c. cold coffee 1 c. vegetable oil 1 tsp vanilla 2 tbsp. Cider vinegar a handful or many of assorted candy, chopped.
Preheat to 350 degrees. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. In a separate bowl, combine the coffee, oil, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir to remove any lumps. Quickly stir in the cider vinegar and stir til uniform in color. Pour the batter into the refridgerated crust. Throw in the candy and bake for about 20 – 25 minutes. Be careful. I stuck a cake tester in and thought it wasn’t done but I was hitting melted butterfinger.
If you are wondering why this kind of looks like a cake (don’t judge me, man)…after consuming 18lbs of Halloween goodies, I halved this and baked it in a 6 in. springform. The recipe as written would work for a pie plate.
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