Pi Day, March 14, 2010

Chocolate Pistachio, Butternut, Chocolate Mint

'Pi Day', or more accurately, 'Pi Approximation Day', is recognized on the 14th day of the 3rd month; hence 3.14 the mathematical constant used in geometric equations involving circular objects. It is mostly recognized by geeks and people who love pies. Fortunately both of these apply to me.

I have been aware of Di Day for a few years but have never celebrated it in the past. This year I decided to throw a Pi Day Party. I invited some close friends over to enjoy some homemade pie and good company. I have never had so many people over at my place before and it went great. I am glad that so many people had a good time.

For this party I served 4 different pies: Apple, Butternut, Chocolate Pistachio, and Chocolate Mint. I have made the first three but the Chocolate Mint is a new experiment; it uses a pudding base similar to the one found in the Chocolate Pistachio Pie recipe (http://fromthemindofkenneth.blogspot.com/2009/11/chocolate-pstachio-pie.html). The basic pudding pie filling I use includes pudding mix, maple syrup, eggs, and melted butter. Such pudding based pie fillings usually turn out to be moist, spongy and soft. The chocolate pudding filling is topped with crushed King Peppermints that I received from a care package a few months ago (Thanks Mom and Dad!). It turned out pretty good.

Chocolate Mint Pie

1 pkg. Chocolate Pudding Mix
1 tbsp. Maple Syrup
3 Eggs
2 tbsp. Melted Butter
3/4 c. Milk
1 Chocolate Pie Shell
1 tsp. peppermint powder
1/2 c. crushed peppermints
(The last two items can be obtained from crushing 2 rolls of King Peppermints)

1. Crush peppermints, sift out powder and larger chunks.
2. Mix well pudding mix, syrup, eggs, butter, milk, and powdered peppermints into a large bowl.
3. Pour the mixture into the pie shell and sprinkle with peppermint chunks.
4. Bake for 30 minutes at 325 F.

Black n' Blue Crumble Pie

Last week I posed a question on Facebook asking what king of top crust I should try for my next pie. Based on those suggestions I wanted to try and do a lattice top. Unfortunately I didn't do it right and I did and epic fail :( I tried to do it while the filling was hot and was unable to weave it. The dough just melted and it got really messy.

I was out of the necessary ingredients to make more regular crust so I needed to improvise. I decided that a crumbly kind of crust might work. I had a box of Oatmeal Squares cereal that I didn't really enjoy as a breakfast cereal. But it is a pretty good texture for baking. So I just crushed some of those (the recipe below says 1 1/2 cups but I can't remember exactly how much I used, best to just eyeball it) and added it to a brown sugar sauce. It seemed to work just fine. You can of course make a different type of crumbly topping using other kinds of cereal; I could see it working with Golden Grahams or Cinnamon Toast Crunch as well. If I try this again I think I might use less sugar all around.

Left: Pie filling that is thick. Centre: Ingredients. Right: Adding Berries and butter.

Filling:

3/4 c. sugar

1 c. blueberry/blackberry juice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 c. blueberries

1 1/2 c. blackberries

2 tbsp. flour

1 1/2 tbsp. cornstarch

2 tbsp. butter

Top Crust:

1 1/2 c. crushed Oatmeal Squares cereal

6 tbsp. brown sugar

2 tbsp. butter

Filling:

1. Combine sugar, salt, flour, and cornstarch; mix well.

2. Add juice; cook until thickened.

3. Add berries and butter, stir till butter is melted.

4. Put into bottom crust (of your choice).

Top Crust:

5. Melt butter and brown sugar.

6. Add crushed Oatmeal Squares cereal; mix well.

7. Cover Pie with top crust evenly.

8. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Chocolate Pstachio Pie

I have decided to resurrect this blog after a very long hiatus! Over the past few months I have really enjoyed learning to bake pie and experimenting with recipes. Many times when I spontaneously felt like making a pie I found that I didn't have all the ingredients and would have to experiment. Most of the time it turns out well, sometimes it turns out great.

Today's experimental pie is Chocolate Pistachio Pie. It turned out great and I learned that pudding mix is useful for making pies. Pudding mix has sugar and cornstarch in it which are common ingredients in pie fillings. Unfortunately I can't find the cord for camera so I don't have any pictures available at the moment. :( You'll just have to trust that it looks good.


Chocolate Pistachio Pie:

1 pkg. pistachio pudding mix
3 tbsp. maple syrup
3 eggs
2 tbsp. melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. Milk
1/2 c. natural pistachios
1/2 c. chocolate chips
1 Chocolate Keebler Ready Crust Pie Shell (or your favorite kind of crust/pie shell)

1. Prepare pistachios and chocolate chips: de-shell pistachios, boil in water to make the skins easier to remove. Mix with chocolate chips and chop into fine pieces.

2. Mix pudding mix, syrup, eggs, butter, vanilla, and milk in a large bowl. Then add the pistachios and chocolate chips.

3. Pour into the pie shell and bake at 350 F for 45 minutes total.

4. Watch the pie as it bakes. When the surface becomes golden brown and dome shaped you may stab a hole in the center and put slits in the pie to make the surface flat.

5. Cool it off on the counter of in the fridge, then enjoy.