First here is another pic of all of the pies...this one from K.
Old-fashioned Custard
French Silk
German Chocolate
Grand Marnier Pecan
Oreo
Razzleberry
Want to see all of the pies again, but this time with names of what each one was?
Starting at the top left and working my way across and down, here we go!
For G - Coconut Cream - homemade pastry cream made with coconut milk and egg yolks, grated, sweetened coconut and then topped with lightly toasted coconut meringue. The coconut milk makes all the difference!
For little ones K and S - Gingerbread Whoopie - cause who doesn't like a couple of soft gingerbread cookies sandwiched together with fluffy marshmallow frosting? Truly for the kid in all of us.
To satisfy a couple of cravings - Guinness Shepherd's Pie - the same one I posted about as Pie # 3 in March. It's still good! And this may become a new Pie Night tradition!!
For A - Chocolate Strawberry - I think I got it right this time! You may recall that last year I tried to make a chocolate strawberry pie for A but it didn't turn out right, so I kept thinking and looking and got inspired by none other than Helen Fletcher - and it worked! See below for how I made it!
For D - Apple - D's favorite pie, chosen every year. And with NO HANDS!
For Deb - Peach - EXCEPT....that I have pretty much decided that I don't care for peach pie when it is made with frozen peaches. If you go back and read one of my posts from August, G & I celebrated Christmas in August with peach picking from August - the most beautiful, juicy, large, gorgeous we'd ever seen! So we froze most of them...but they just don't bake up as nicely after freezing. Perhaps if I had 162 shelves of freezer space and 162 cookie sheets, I could individually quick freeze peach slices like they do commercially and they would bake up in pie as well as fresh, but otherwise I'm not so sure how to get as good a pie from frozen peaches as from fresh. Still thinking though...
For N - Banana Cream - homemade pastry cream with layers of sliced bananas on a graham cracker crust. Classic. Sweet. Tasty. Satisfying.
For K - Chocolate and Coconut Pecan Custard - here is the link to this recipe that SR & KR found that they wanted to test run for Thanksgiving. I volunteered to be their test run, and it's a good one! It is easy and good! It doesn't get much better than that!
For S - Razzleberry - S's favorite pie is Marie Callendar's Razzleberry pie, so I tried my hand at one. I followed the guidelines of my favorite Blueberry Pie recipe that includes boiling down sweetened wine to a syrup before mixing in with the fruits and thickeners. It had a good flavor, but I am still trying to work on the right balance of juice to thickener, because it was too soupy once it was cut. It is tricky to find that balance on fruit pies - even for the most experienced of pie bakers. But I am learning!
For K - French Silk - the classic...velvety smooth chocolate in a pastry crust garnished with whipped cream and chocolate shavings. Hard to beat and shows up every year for good reason!
For T - German Chocolate - homemade chocolate pastry cream with chopped pecans, topped with homemade coconut pecan frosting. Good pie. Got very positive reviews. I think I prefer the above Chocolate and Coconut Pecan Custard, but they are both easy enough to host your own throwdown!
For P - Caramel Dutch Apple - apples...cinnamon...caramel...streusel...more caramel...what's not to like? Winner!
For S - Run for the Roses - here is the link for this version of Derby - chocolate and pecans laced with bourbon. You'll be searching for your over-sized hat and Mint Julep in no time!
For J-man - Oreo - When S asked J-man what he wanted for his pie, he replied something like "A Great Big Dough!" followed by giggles. And somehow his Daddy interpreted that to mean Oreo. So simple. So tasty. Cookies and cream. This pie is popular and goes fast!
For Pie Night - Grand Marnier Pecan - I featured this pie in my 5th Friday Pies back in May. S chose this pie last year, and for the first time ever, I added a Pie Night Pie, which means that S is now "winning" Pie Night. As G put it, when it comes to "piemetrics", this pie measures high ratings for "culinary exquisitivities" (two new words right there in case you missed that). This pie takes pecan pie to a higher level of "culinary exquisitivities". Now you may not like the word "exquisitivities"...it may not make sense to you but perhaps this background will help. I was suggesting a phrase I heard a long time ago..."culinary orgasm" as a suggestion for this pie...and then asked if I could use that phrase in my blog. G assured me that it was ok for me to use that word cause I'm a married woman.... and then we both promptly reminded ourselves that our kids may read this blog post...so we decided "culinary exquisitivities" was better. Somehow. Ahem. Uh...back to the pies...
For B - Pumpkin - classic spicy custard that many love. While B chooses it every year (since it's the only pie I think she likes), it either doesn't get cut (this year) or only one small piece is cut. When so many other options are available, you can only eat so much pie!
For J - Old-Fashioned Custard - scalded milk and cream...eggs...generous sprinkling of freshly ground nutmeg. Sweet. Lightly spicy. Smooth. Creamy. Classic and shows up every year for us.
Not pictured because they were in the fridge and freezer when these pics were taken:
For S - Margarita Pie - yep that's right. Lime juice, tequila, orange liqueur...in pie form with a sweet, crumbly graham cracker crust. Creamy...sweet...and I would suggest that you like tequila! It is a bit prominent - and NOT cooked out!!
For R - Mocha - creamy (too creamy...more like soupy, because I failed to include the cream cheese called for in the recipe!) sweet coffee and chocolate, like a mocha latte. I would do this again WITH the cream cheese! I still owe you a pie, R!
And finally, last but certainly not least...
For J - Turtle - ice cream, caramel, chocolate ganache and chopped pecans. Turtle sundae in a pie!
I love our Morrison Family Pie Nights and hope that everyone who is able to come feels the love in each pie!
Now - here is how I made the Chocolate Strawberry tart for A. As she put it, we need to keep this recipe. The more she ate it, the more she wanted to eat! That is a good sign!
Let's start with Helen Fletcher's inspiration. From her blog "Pastries Like a Pro" Helen recently posted a recipe for Chocolate Cranberry Curd Tart that was very popular at her bakery. I used her recipe for the crust and her idea for glazing with chocolate ganache, but filled it with strawberry curd instead of cranberry curd. I used this recipe for strawberry curd, and it couldn't be simpler. I also did something I'd never done before to give the strawberries more of a boost of baked-in flavor...I sliced the prettiest berries and laid the slices on a cake rack over my 10" x 15" jelly roll pan. Then I slid them into a 400 degree oven and roasted for about 15 minutes. After cooling for a few minutes, I layered them over about half of the curd and then covered them with the remainder of the curd. The final touch was to glaze the chilled tart in chocolate ganache until smooth. This worked! Another good suggestion was to dry the berries in a dehydrator and then grind the dried berries to a powder to sprinkle on the curd. I would like to try that sometime!
Here are the recipe details:
Chocolate Press Crust
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup cake flour
1/4 cup cocoa
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 stick cold butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (not called for in Helen's)
This is enough for an 11" x 1" quiche tart pan. If you don't have a tart pan that size, then you will have a bit left over, but the dough bakes up as a couple of nice cookies for cook's treat!
I used my food processor to combine the flours, cocoa and cinnamon. Then I added the butter and processed until very fine. Then I added the sugar and baking powder and mixed in briefly. Finally I added the egg and egg yolk and processed until the dough formed into a ball.
I divided the ball in half and then one half into half again. Each of those quarters, I rolled into ropes and then pressed both ropes into the tart pan sides. Finally I pressed the other half into the bottom of the tart pan. (I did a quick spray of Pam in the center of the tart bottom to help with releasing and serving.) I made sure everything was sealed together, pricked the bottom and baked the crust at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Let cool while making the curd and roasting the strawberry slices.
Strawberry Curd
4 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
2 T. cornstarch
1/4 cup lime juice
3 eggs
2 egg yolks
3 T. butter
Process strawberries in a blender or food processor until smooth, stopping to scrape down sides as needed. Press strawberries through a large wire-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, using back of a spoon to squeeze out juice; discard pulp and seeds. Combine sugar and cornstarch in a 3-qt. saucepan; gradually whisk in strawberry puree and fresh lime juice. Whisk in 3 large eggs and 2 egg yolks. Bring mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking constantly, and cook, whisking constantly, 1 minute. Remove from heat, and whisk in butter.
Pour half of the hot curd into the cooled crust and then lay the roasted strawberries (see above) over the curd before covering the roasted strawberry slices with the remainder of the curd. Cover the curd with plastic wrap directly on the surface and chill overnight.
Chocolate Ganache
2/3 cup heavy cream
2-1/2 oz. semisweet chocolate
Warm the cream to a simmer. Pour over the chocolate and make sure all pieces are submerged. Let this sit for 4 - 5 minutes and then whisk until smooth. Pour over the chilled curd and then return to the fridge until serving time.
Happy Thanksgiving! And Happy Pie Night! Thanks for stopping by!!
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