Fresh and Sweet

Summer is the perfect time to bake with fresh fruit. I made a delicious fresh strawberry pie for the 4th of July along with some cookies, of course. Now, if only I could have one of you send me some of the fresh berries from Mary's Berries I think that's the only way this pie could be any better!
This recipe is a three part-er, the crust, the 'filling', and the glaze.

Doesn't that look pretty-ful?

One Crust Pie Pastry
2/3 C shortening
1/4 C butter (cold, cut into pats)
1/2 t salt
2 1/2 C Flour
1/4-1/3 C ice cold water

In a mixer, sift in the flour, add the salt, add the shortening and turn on to low. Add the butter one cold pat at a time (make sure it's cold! Have I said that enough?!) Once the dough looks like a crumbly mess add the water 1 Tablespoon at a time. You'll have enough water when you can reach in and squeeze the dough and it holds together but isn't sticky. Roll the dough into a ball, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Before rolling out, let it come to room temp for about 15 minutes. I like to roll mine out on a silpat mat, but any floured surface will do. When you roll it out, aim for about 1/4 inch thick. To get it into the pan easier, roll the dough onto your rolling pin, and unroll into your floured pie pan. Fix the edges how you like them, I like to roll the tops in and seal with a fork. Now, put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes. Super important here before you blind bake a pie crust (that's baking without filling). Preheat the oven to 350, prick the bottom of the dough with a fork to let out the steam, cover the edges with foil and bake for 8 minutes. Take the foil off and bake for another 12. Let the crust cool completely.

Strawberry Pie 'Filling'
8 C washed, hulled, and sliced in half berries
1/2 C Nutella or sweetened cream cheese

On the cooled pie crust, spread the Nutella or cream cheese over the bottom. Arrange the strawberries in a pretty circle. Refrigerate. Done.

Strawberry Pie Glaze
1 1/2 C strawberries, washed and hulled (these can be the ugly ones that weren't good enough to go in the pie)
1/2 C water
1/2 C sugar
2 T cornstarch

In a blender combine the berries and water. On the stove stir together the sugar and cornstarch, pour in the water/berries mix. Heat on medium until bubbly (not boiling) and thick. Remove from heat for 10 minutes and do NOT stir while it's cooling. Feel free to stir while it's cooking though.
Just before serving pour or brush the glaze over the pie. Do not do this more than 3 hours before serving or you'll have a mushy mess. And if you have left over glaze it's basically strawberry jelly. YUM! Super delicious on toast.

I Like...Pie

I mean, who honestly doesn't like pie? With all of the different choices you could have (fruit, chocolate, cream) it's a wonder that anyone could dislike pie. But what if your family can't agree on a flavor? The answer....mini pies!!! A personal mini pie in a flavor for everyone! This week I made chocolate mini pies for my sweetie for Valentine's Day, and they were wonderful. Even better? They were super easy, only three ingredients.

Chocolate Mini Pie

1 box refrigerated prepared pie dough (not the already cooked kind)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 bag chocolate chips

TaDah! Sounds pretty easy, huh? I made both a single crust and double crust chocolate pie. The single crust used a silicone heart mold like this one from Wilton. The double crust using a mini pie/tart mold similar to this one on Amazon.com.
Ok, to make these easy pies, take the pie dough out of the fridge, unroll it and let it come to room temperature. Pie dough that comes to room temp will shrink less in the oven than cold dough. Preheat the oven to 450. While the dough and oven are warming up, go ahead and set up a double boiler. Once the water is simmering (not boiling) pour in the chocolate chips and the condensed milk. Slowly melt and combine the chocolate and milk, stirring occasionally, do not boil.
When the dough is no longer cold, start cutting dough to put in the molds. The double mold has a handy cutter that will get the exact size. For the heart molds I cut a large triangle and carefully filled the mold, pinching and cutting off the excess.

Single crust heart mini pie

Single Crust directions:
Bake the single crust pie for about 10-12 minutes, or until a nice golden brown. When you pull them out of the oven, go ahead and fill the pie crusts while they are still in the mold. Refrigerate before removing the mold.




Double Crust directions:

Double crust mini pie

Place the cut dough in the shaper and fill the bottom with about two spoonfulls of the chocolate mixture. Press down on the tops to seal the two crusts. Use your fingers to ensure a good seal, don't want that chocolate leaking out! Place on a cookie sheet and bake for about 24-26 minutes, or until golden brown.

Pop them in the microwave for about 30 seconds right before serving and hand them out with a big glass of milk. YUM!