Cherry Almond Crumble Pie

Fourth of July sparklers

"Is apple pie Fourth of July-sie?" asked my friend Christie.
"Of course!" I responded, "It's the classic American pie!"

That's all it took for Christie to decide that she was making her famous Apple Crumble Pie for a 4th of July potluck. Her pie is "famous" because it's the reason her husband married her (or so he claims). I guess I should feel lucky that Christie was already married by the time that C had the chance to try her apple pie! (It's really good.) Since Christie was making apple pie, I offered to make a cherry pie.

I first made cherry pie for 4th of July in 2012. The juicy, red filling against the slightly browned crust seemed patriotic. It just needed a few blueberries for a burst of blue. The crumble topping was delicious and made mostly of oats and shredded coconut. This year, I wanted to change it up. I used the same technique for the cherry filling but I used sweet cherries and decreased the sugar. The major change was the flavor. In addition to cherry, I wanted to add almond.

I owe the idea to a Blueberry Almond Streusel Galette. I first made the galette with blueberries, then again with a combination of blueberries and cherries, and then, upon C's request, with cherries alone. There was no contest: the cherry version was our favorite. A galette didn't seem nearly as American as pie, so I decided to put the galette filling into a pie pan. The streusel topping called for crumbled almond paste, so I had a fair bit on hand. To use up the almond paste, I decided to mix it into cream cheese for a cream cheese layer under the cherry filling. Oh, and I cut out stars from the extra pie dough to give the pie a little patriotic flair!

Objective
Make a cherry pie similar to my 4th of July Cherry Pie, but flavored with almond paste.

Materials
Pie crust:
1 cup + 2 tbsp. whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tbsp. sugar
dash salt
5 tbsp. butter, cold and cut into cubes
1 tbsp. shortening, cut into cubes
1/4  cup milk (give or take)

Cream cheese filling:
3 oz. almond paste, grated
1 tbsp. sugar
3 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Cherry filling:
16 oz. sweet cherries (if frozen, thaw and save juice)
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup of cherry juice (+ water if needed)

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup flour
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup almonds, finely chopped
2 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. almond paste, grated
2 tbsp. butter

Methods
1. Prepare the dough for pie crust: In a food processor, pulse the flour, sugar, salt, butter, and shortening a few times until the mixture becomes pea-sized crumbs. With the food processor running, slowly stream in the milk, only adding enough to bring the dough together (it should be crumbly and there will be a little bit of unincorporated flour). Pour the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap and, using the plastic wrap, gather the dough into a ball and knead a few time to incorporate any loose flour. Flatten into a disk, wrap, and refrigerate for about 45 minutes before assembling the pie.

2. Make the crumble topping: Stir together the flour, rolled oats, ground almonds, and brown sugar. Use your fingers to rub in the butter and almond paste until the mixture resembles fine crumbs. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the pie.

3. Make the cream cheese filling: blend together the almond paste and sugar (use a food processor if you have one). Add the cream cheese, egg yolk, and vanilla. Blend until smooth. Refrigerate until you're ready to assemble the pie.

4. Make the cherry filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together the cherry juice/water and cornstarch. Add the sugar and cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly. Add the cherries and continue to cook for 5 minutes.

5. Assemble the pie: Roll out the pie crust to fit a 9 or 9.5" pie plate. Lay the crust in the pie plate and crimp the edges however you desire. Next, spread the cream cheese filling over the bottom of the crust. Pour the cherry filling over the cream cheese layer. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the rest of the pie. Place on an a baking sheet to catch any drips while baking.

6. Bake the pie at 400º for 40 minutes. After 20 minutes, tent the pie with foil, turn the temperature down to 350º, and continue baking for 20 more minutes. Move to a wire rack and cool completely before serving.

Results
Yum! Almond flavored, thin layer of cherry filling and delicious crumble topping. This is the perfect excuse to use frozen or canned cherries because you're making it into a jammy filling.

Discussion and Future Directions
The long ingredients list suggests that this is a challenging and laborious pie. It's certainly not as easy as dumping cherry filling into a pie crust and baking it, but it's definitely easier than making a lattice top!

The cream cheese is a nice way to break up the almond paste and improve the texture. It becomes a smooth, cheesecake-like layer (though it's very thin and just there for flavor, not texture). You could double or triple the cream cheese layer for more of a cheesecake pie. You could eliminate the cream cheese layer altogether and double the cherry filling for a traditional, deeper-dish cherry pie. You could skip the crumble topping and layer 50 stars over the top for an even more stunning display! If you prefer double-crusted pies, double the crust recipe, lay a round over the top of the filling and make slits. Perhaps a star? Maybe some sort of flag pattern? The sky is the limit!

This is the pie to make if you love almond flavor. If you prefer cherry alone, give my 4th of July Cherry Pie a try! If you have local, fresh, perfectly ripe cherries, I would opt for the 4th of July Cherry Pie instead of the Cherry Almond Crumble Pie because it would give the cherries a chance to be the star. Here, the cherries and almond share the stage.

Supplementary Materials

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

The we-move-in-less-than-2-months-so-we-better-start-eating-from-the-cuboards time crunch has begun! So far, we've successfully eaten through most of the canned goods (by canned goods, I mostly mean refried black beans and tomatoes). Still, there are random things that need eating like oats, dates, millet, de puy lentils, sunflower seeds, pine nuts, and a ton of flour (whole wheat, whole wheat pastry, all-purpose, buckwheat, rye, potato, tapioca, etc.). Also, we have at least 15 bags of chills from the Chili Cook-Off that we hosted over Easter weekend in 2013. If you can think of a dried chile pepper, we probably have it! Ancho, cayenne, chipotle, cobanero, guajillo, Japonese, morita, mulato, New Mexico, pasilla, pequin…

The other thing we bought for the chili cook off was a bright yellow and red box of Mexican chocolate for C's chili. I think I used it for something after the chili cook off, but I don't remember exactly what I made. It might have been ice cream. Whatever it was, it didn't turn out, so the box has been sitting in the cupboard taunting me since. I haven't known what to do with the rest of it. The obvious solution would be to make hot chocolate. However, it's currently June in Texas and there is no chance we'll have a day below 80ºF in the next two months. Iced Mexican hot chocolate? I don't know about that.

On Sunday, while C was on call in the hospital, I decided to bake him Mexican chocolate brownies. He says he "hates" chocolate. I find this suspicious because he loves brownies and recently came home with a pint of Steve's Mexican Chili Chocolate Ice Cream "for me," yet only gave me a few bites. Adding to my suspicions, the chocolate ice cream appeared just a day after I made cobanero chili chocolate dairy-free "oat cream." I believe that when he says "I hate chocolate" he really means "I hate chocolate cake." His hatred of cake has somehow tainted his view of chocolate.

Anyway,  last time I made brownies, he gave me a little grief. I told him that I had a brownie recipe that I was excited to try and he told me not to bother, that he had gotten the best brownie recipe from his friend Nick. He asked me how many eggs my recipe called for and told me that since it called for fewer eggs than his recipe, my brownies wouldn't be as good. We decided to have a brownie bake-off. When he pulled up the recipe from his friend Nick, he told me it was the Baked brownie recipe, the exact same recipe I was planning to make. (Clearly he didn't remember how many eggs Nick's recipe called for!)

Objective
Make the Baked brownie recipe with part dark chocolate and part Mexican chocolate.

Materials
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
pinch ground cinnamon
pinch ground hot chile pepper (ex. cayenne, cobanero, or chipotle)
4.5 ounces dark chocolate
1 ounce Mexican chocolate, grated (ex. Ibarra or Abuelita)
1/2 cup butter, cubed
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 1/2 eggs (crack three, whisk together and remove 1 tablespoon)
1 teaspoon vanilla
sliced almonds, for topping (optional)
flaked sea salt, for topping (optional)

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Grease an 8x8 inch square pan and set aside.
2. Sift together the flour, salt, cocoa powder, cinnamon and chile powder. Set aside.
3. Set up a double boiler (bring about an inch of water to boil in the bottom of a saucepan and set a tight-fitting glass or metal bowl over the water but not touching). Melt the dark chocolate, Mexican chocolate and butter.
4. Whisk in the sugar and brown sugar. Add half of the eggs, whisk, then whisk in the rest. Stir in the vanilla. Do not over mix (unless you like cake-like brownies; if that's the case, whisk away).
5. Sprinkle the sifted flour mixture over the top of the batter. Fold in the flour until just combined. The mixture will be a bit lumpy from the eggs but not from clumps of flour.
6. Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan. If desired, sprinkle with sliced almonds and sea salt. Bake 20-30 minutes (mine took 22 minutes), rotating the pan after 15 minutes of baking. The brownies are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with a few crumbs on it (so that it still has moisture but isn't still gooey batter).

Results
Yum! Moist, creamy, and a little spicy. A nice crunch (and flavor) from the almonds.

Discussion
When I first met C, he was disappointed to learn that I liked pickles. He joked that his dream girl was one who hated pickles so that he'd always get to eat two. While we agree on pickles, we disagree on brownies. He's a crust guy, I'm a gooey-center girl. Thankfully we're both in the fudgey not cakey camp, so our brownie sharing partnership is nearly perfect. The only problem is that C is a purist and I like a little crunch now and again (like nuts or chocolate chips or candy canes). Even without that crunch, I'll happily leave him the crusts and dive right into the center.

To give C credit, the Baked brownie recipe makes good brownies. You do have to be mindful of your stirring or you can easily ruin a masterpiece. My only complaint about the brownies is that they are thin. Why not double the recipe for a nice, thick chuck of chocolate gooey goodness? It's possible that it would take too long for the heat to get to the center and leave you with burnt edges and gooey, uncooked, eggy centers. Once I have the heart to try wasting that much chocolate (if it doesn't turn out), I'll let you know and report back with the results!

Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumble Pie

I just got back to Houston after a wonderful week spent at home with my family and friends. The weather was absolutely perfect which is rare for Memorial Day in Madison. We had warm (but not too hot), sunny days and cool, clear nights. It was even clear enough overnight to see the meteor shower! My mom and I bundled up in warm clothes and blankets and each saw 2 shooting stars. She saw both of hers around 10 pm but I had to go back out at 3:30 to see mine. It was neat to lay in the hammock all bundled up in my down comforter, listen to the sounds of the lake and the trees, look for shooting stars and watch the sun begin to rise. That's not something I get to do in Houston!

I spent the rest of the week visiting friends, running a few errands, eating picnic salads of every imaginable kind, burgers and brats (no, I didn't go to Brat Fest). On Saturday morning, I went to a yoga class then met two of my good friends (and their adorable 11 week-old baby boy!) at the Dane County Farmers' Market. I had my fair share of cheese samples but the only things I bought were a cream cheese filled croissant for a very late breakfast and a pound of rhubarb. I made two stalks into Rhubarb and Rye Scones from Apt. 2B Baking Co. and I made the rest into pie.

Objective
Adapt my strawberry rhubarb sour cream crumb pie recipe to a tart, thin (because a two-inch thick piece of rhubarb pie would be a little too much) rhubarb sour cream crumble pie. Based on my Blueberry Sour Cream Crumble Pie.

Materials
1 unbaked pie crust
2 cups rhubarb, chopped in 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup sour cream (low fat is fine or even Greek yogurt)
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
1-2 tbsp. flour (optional, for a thicker pie)

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup flour (whole wheat)
1/2 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup butter, cold and cut in small cubes

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF.
2. Place the chopped rhubarb in the bottom of the unbaked pie crust. Whisk together the sour cream, vanilla, sugar and flour. Spread over the rhubarb.
3. In a medium sized bowl, prepare the crumble topping. Use a pastry blender to cut the butter into the dry ingredients or simply use your finger and pinch the butter into the dry ingredients until you have coarse crumbles. Sprinkle over the pie.
4. Place the pie on a baking sheet and bake at 450ºF for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 350ºF, tent with foil to prevent the crust from burning,and continue baking 25 to 30 minutes. Cool then chill completely before serving.

Results
Yum! The crust is a deep golden brown and the filling holds it's shape sort of like a cheesecake. The filling is tart and lightly sweetened.

Discussion
I used a store-bought pie crust (which tends to make a smaller pie than homemade 9" pies) and the thickness was just right. In thinking more about it, I might use a graham cracker crust next time I make this pie because the texture of the filling reminded me of cheesecake and that would make it even more cheesecake-like. If you omit the flour, you'll get a runnier pie (check out the pictures of the blueberry version). If you pride yourself in food presentation, I'd recommend adding the flour for clean-edged slices.

I'm sorry I don't have a photo of the pie to share. I didn't even think to take a camera home with me while I was packing! But to be totally honest, in my family, it's not about how pie looks but rather, how it tastes! I'm pretty sure it tasted good because we offered my brother a bite as he was walking out the door and he turned right back around and decided he could wait to leave until he'd had a whole slice. I'd call that a success!

Balsamic Roasted Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberries and melons are my favorite summer fruits.  I rarely buy melons because I can never finish a whole melon before it goes bad. We even struggle to eat strawberries quickly enough! I frequently panic once I notice that one or two of the strawberries in a carton is moldy. Often, I'll make the remaining berries into a galette, but if I'm not in the mood to make crust, I sit on the internet looking for strawberry recipes feeling defeated. Once, I made a strawberry compote from two pounds of strawberries that were going bad. Aat the grocery store, I suggested that 2 pounds was probably too much, but I was told "don't worry. I'll eat them." That's a phrase I will never believe! So, then we ended up with a giant bowl of strawberry compote that was on the brink of going bad and the only way I could think of to use it was on waffles! The rest of it was frozen. It's probably still in the freezer somewhere..

The next time we had molding strawberries, I gave up.  I washed the strawberries, sliced them and froze them. Unlike the bag of whole frozen strawberries we have lurking in the bottom of our freezer, sliced strawberries can go into the blender and come out smooth, so I made a lot of smoothies. Smoothies are great, but ice cream is so much better.

I've had my eye on a recipe for roasted strawberry ice cream for the past few years.  Whenever I had strawberries, I forgot to roast them.  The same thing happened with bananas. I kept planning to make banana bread with roasted bananas, but every time I made banana bread, I forgot! When I finally bought bananas with the intention of roasting them, I made the banana bread and was disappointed with the results. I didn't think that roasting the bananas made a difference. Fortunately, I wasn't disappointed with my roasted strawberry ice cream!

Objective
To make strawberry ice cream with roasted strawberries. The recipe is a combination of both Zoe Bakes' Strawberry Ice Cream and Homesick Texan's Strawberry and Guajillo Chile Ice Cream.

Materials
For the roasted strawberries:
12 oz. fresh, ripe strawberries, washed with tops cut off
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

For the ice cream:
3 cups half-and-half
2 tbsp. light corn syrup
1/2 cup granulated sugar
juice of 1/2 lime

Methods
1. In a small bowl, toss the strawberries, 2 tbsp. sugar and balsamic vinegar. Set aside for an hour to macerate (or leave in the fridge while you go to work, run errands, whatever). Preheat the oven to 300ºF. Roast the strawberry mixture on a foil lined baking sheet until you can easily mash the strawberries with the back of a fork. Remove from the oven and thoroughly mash the strawberries.
2. In a large bowl (batter bowl if you have one), stir the mashed strawberries, half-and-half, corn syrup, 1/2 cup granulated sugar and lime juice. Leave in the fridge to chill completely (4-6 hours, or even better, overnight).
3. Once the base is cold, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's directions. Move to a pre-chilled bowl with a lid and freeze until firm (2-3 hours). Eat within a few days for the best texture.

Results
Creamy, strawberry goodness! Excellent flavor, though its pink color edges toward brown.

Discussion and Future Directions
This is a lovely, light in feel strawberry ice cream. This one wont leave your mouth coated with fat. Excellent to eat in a bowl and also excellent blended with a little milk to make a quick and easy strawberry milkshake! Be sure to eat it quickly, because it will freeze fairly solid in the freezer since it's not as high in fat as a traditional ice cream. If you leave it in the freezer for awhile, just know that it will take awhile to soften up before you can eat it.

This ice cream would be the perfect end to a dinner party with friends or a Memorial Day barbecue. It's sweet, fruity and creamy, but light. It's sure to be a crowd-pleaser!

May Day 2014

Happy May Day! May Day falls smack dab in the middle of Spring. Up north, May usually feels like spring but there is no telling what March or April will feel like. I remember catching a plane for spring break on a 70 degree St. Patrick's Day in 2009 just as easily as I remember waking up to snow flurries on April 30, 2004, the morning after prom! On May Day, the only flowers that are usually in bloom are crocus, tulips and daffodils.

Down here in the south, May feels like summer. March was an unseasonably cold month throughout the country and in Houston, a lot of the flowers (particularly the azaleas) were late to bloom. April was a bit of a roller coaster with temperatures ranging from the low 40s all the way up to 92 degrees! The spring flowers are long gone and the trees are no longer dropping pollen. By May, temperatures generally hover in the mid 80s but often jump into the 90s, making it feel like summer instead of spring.

The first of May will always hold a special place in my heart. As a child, I loved making May baskets out of craft paper and filling them with flowers. My mom would come home from work to find all of her newly blooming daffodils cut and hanging from the neighbors' door handles. She was never pleased to find her flowers cut to the ground, but she never scolded me.

In Houston, I haven't seen any tulips or daffodils. Because I can't pick those special heralds of spring, hang them in May baskets on my neighbors' door handles, ring the door bell, and run away, I'm going to share pictures of the spring flowers we had down here in Texas! The first three pictures (paintbrushes and bluebonnets) were taken between Belleville, TX and Brenham, TX. The last two, the field of bluebonnets and the purple flowers, were taken at McKinney Falls State Park and in downtown Austin, respectively. C and I took these photos during the last two weekends of March.

Flowers aren't the only things that mark spring. Changes in the produce at the local grocery store are also quite telling. First, it's the citrus fruits. Citrus season begins in the winter and continues into the spring. (Remember when I told you about our adventure to the pick-your-own citrus farm?) Some varieties of tangerines and mandarines peak during early spring. In March, I found deliciously sweet Ojai Pixie Tangerines at the grocery store and used them to make an adorable, half-sized Clementine Mousse Cheesecake.

Then, I found reasonably priced rhubarb (down from $5.99/lb to $1.99/lb), another sure sign of spring! I was beyond excited and picked up a half pound to turn into a half-sized Rhubarb Custard Pie from  The Four & Twenty Blackbirds Pie Book (p. 79). I worked from home on Good Friday and sat at the dining room table editing a manuscript and snacking on pie. I had a beautiful bouquet of pink tulips and white freesia sitting on the table next to me, filling the room with a lovely floral scent. It was delightful.

Finally, local strawberries hit the market! I started volunteering 4 hours a week to teach a level 1 English as a Second language (ESL) class for adults. While teaching interrogative words (Who? When? Where?), I learned that one of my students would be turning 60 on the 26th. I decided to surprise her by bringing a birthday cake to the next class. I made Yellow Cake with vanilla buttercream and and added chopped strawberries to the filling between the two layers. I've never loved cake, but I did enjoy the small slice I tried!

I love the produce available in spring but I can't wait for the bounty of summer. Sometime soon, probably later this month, it will be peach season. That will be a sure sign of summer in the US, regardless of latitude.

Vinegar Pie (or Lemon-Free Lemon Pie)

By now, you've probably realized how expensive limes have gotten. You probably know that it's due to a poor growing season and if you're really up on what's been happening in Mexico, particularly in Michoacán where limes are big business, you might know that the problem has been exacerbated by violence and the drug cartels. To avoid a rant about drug-related violence, let's talk about limes.

In our household, we go through limes like you wouldn't believe. We're the weird people who go to the grocery store every day (sometimes multiple times a day) because we can walk there. Many a trip has been made solely for limes, sometimes for pico de gallo, sometimes for whatever variation of Moscow Mules we're craving. Because of lime prices (we buy them so often we have a special coupon at the grocery store for 17 cent limes that now cost 54 cents), I've been forced to substitute lemons.

Now, in case lemon prices ever sky rocket, let's talk about a substitute for lemons. Have you ever had vinegar pie? Sounds weird, right? Here's a recipe for a dairy-free, lemon-free pie that tastes just like lemon meringue pie (without the meringue). Thank the pioneers. Not only did they settle our country, they discovered that water, sugar, flour, egg, and apple cider could be made into a faux-fruit pie!

Objective
Make a crust-less vinegar pie in ramekins based on this Vinegar Pie from the Township of Springwater, CA. Shout out to Underbelly restaurant for the inspiration (they serve theirs in a thick pastry shell with salt brittle on top).

Materials
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 egg, beaten until frothy
1-3 tbsp. apple cider vinegar (start with 1 tbsp and taste before adding more)
1 tsp. citrus extract (optional, I used orange)
candied lemon slices (for garnish, see supplementary materials)

Methods
1. Bring the water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and flour until well-incorporated. Whisk the flour-sugar into the boiling water and continue whisking until thickened (like a custard, you want it to coat the back of a wooden spoon and not drip when you swipe it). Remove from heat.
2. Temper the eggs by whisking a little bit of the sugar-water mixture into the frothy eggs. Then whisk the tempered eggs into the rest of the sugar-water mixture. Continue whisking until the mixture looks smooth and creamy, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Stir in the apple cider vinegar. Feel free to give it a taste (careful it's hot) to see if you need to add any extract.
4. Pour into four 4.5 oz. ramekins (if you have smaller ramekins, use them! If you want to make tarts, use baked mini tart shells). Chill the "custards" approximately 3 hours until set. Garnish with candied lemon slices before serving.

Results
The color is subtly yellow from the egg yolk. The aroma is a bit acidic (read: vinegar). To me, it tastes like citrus but to C, it tastes like vinegar.

Discussion and Future Directions
First off, let's be honest. This should be way more than 4 servings (unless you like a dessert with ~45g of sugar). Plus, without a crust, the flavor is strong. I suggest sharing one ramekin. A better idea would be to chill the custard in pre-baked single-serving tart pastries. That would make the custard a thin layer and therefore decrease the serving. Or you could make a pie (I would make 1.5x this recipe for a 9" pie). A shortbread crust would be perfect.

Now, let' talk about the vinegar. I used the full 3 tablespoons which made it unpalatable for C. Clearly, a little less vinegar would be ok. A lot less vinegar would probably be fine. The original recipe calls for 3 tablespoons (technically 6, but I halved the recipe). If I were you, I would try adding the apple cider vinegar tablespoon by tablespoon until it has enough flavor without tasting too vinegary. Alternatively, just go for 1 tbsp. of vinegar with 1-2 tbsp. lemon juice.

This unique little dessert is something to try when you're in the mood for something new and different. It's probably not the best dessert to try for the first time on guests. (Or depending on the guests, it may be the perfect dessert...)

Supplementary Materials

Candied Lemon Slices: Bring 3/4 cup water to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup sugar until dissolved. Cut 1 small-medium lemon in 1/4" thick slices. Add the lemons in a single layer floating on the top of the syrup. Boil until the pulp of the lemon is translucent, about 10 minutes, flipping the slices half way through. Drain and move to a wire rack to cool. Want to know the best part? If you cool the syrup and put it in a glass jar, you get the added bonus of having just made homemade lemon simple syrup! (Just add vodka and some lemon juice and you've got yourself a lemon drop martini. Or, add gin and lemon juice and muddle some blackberries for a blackberry bramble)

Strawberry Pi Pie

Did you notice people acting a bit irrational yesterday? You can't blame the full moon (that's tomorrow). You can't blame Friday the 13th (it was off by a day). No, yesterday was Pi Day, 3.14159 day. Today is the day after Pi Day, which means that everything is rational again. That's why I started the day with a slice of a leftover Strawberry Pi Pie before yoga. I'm sure it was the pie that gave me the extra energy I needed to kick up into my forearm stand!

This weekend is sandwiched between two holidays: Pi Day and St. Patrick's Day. Last night, we made spontaneous dinner plans with our good friends, The Brown Family. We decided that the only way to celebrate properly would be to have sandwiches and pie for dinner. C made Ruebens with leftover corned beef from our premature St. Patty's Day dinner and I made a strawberry pie. I hemmed and hawed over what kind of strawberry pie to make. My go-tos are strawberry rhubarb sour cream crumb pie and strawberry balsamic galettes, so I decided on a plain and simple strawberry pie. To sweeten the pie, I chose to use apricot jam (because we have a lot of it and I'm sick of looking at it in the fridge).

Objective
To make a very simple strawberry pie.

Materials
Crust:
2 oz. rye flour
2 oz. whole wheat pastry flour
4.5 oz. all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. sugar
pinch salt
a couple shakes of cinnamon
12 tbsp. butter, cold and cut into small cubes
4 oz. ice cold water
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Filling:
2 lbs. fresh strawberries, de-stemmed and sliced
2 tbsp. granulated white sugar
1/4 cup apricot jam
2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

Decoration:
cream
coarse sugar

Methods
1. To make the crust: combine the flours, sugar, salt, and cinnamon in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the cubes of butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the apple cider vinegar to the ice cold water. Continuing to pulse the food processor, slowly pour the water through the feed tube. Only add as much water as it takes to bring the dough together. Pour the dough out of the food processor onto a large piece of plastic wrap. Use the plastic wrap to squeeze the dough together into a ball. Flatten and chill (1 hr in the fridge or about 15 minutes in the freezer).
2. While the dough is chilling, slice the strawberries and toss them in a medium-sized bowl with the granulated sugar. Set aside to macerate.
3. Remove your dough from the fridge/freezer. Gently roll the dough out to a small rectangle. Fold in thirds, then gently roll the dough back to a small rectangle. Fold again. Cut the dough approximately in half with one half being a little bigger than the other. Flatten into 1/2"-1" thick circles. Chill again until the butter is cold (30 minutes should be sufficient).
4. In a small saucepan, combine the apricot jam and the juice from the macerated strawberries (a strainer is the easiest way to collect the juices). Stir and bring to a boil over medium heat. Let it boil for a few minutes until it begins to thicken. Pour over the sliced strawberries. Add 2 tbsp. flour and stir to combine. Set aside.
5. Preheat the oven to 375º.
6. Remove your dough from the fridge. Roll the bigger piece to a circle that fits in a 9" pie plate with 1/2" overhang. Gently lay the dough in the pie plate. Fold the overhang under the dough to create a lip around the edge of the pie plate. Using a fork, prick the sides and the bottom of the pie crust. Pour the strawberry concoction, juices and all, into the unbaked crust.
7. Roll out the remaining piece of dough to a circle that lays flat on top of the filling and meets the edge of the crust. Pinch the edges of the crust into whatever pattern you prefer (click here for ideas), being sure to seal the top and bottom crust together. Use a sharp knife to slice air vents in the top crust (be creative: if it's Pi Day, maybe write "Happy 3.14159 Day" or simply "π"). Brush the pie with cream and sprinkle it with sugar.
8. Before placing the pie in the oven, set it on a large baking sheet in case the juices bubbles over. Bake for 35-45 minutes or until the juices are bubbling and the crust is golden brown. (If it's getting late and you start to get impatient, you can crank the heat up to 400º to help the pie along.)
9. Let the pie cool for an hour or two to allow the filling to firm up (or slice into it hot and flood the bottom of your pie plate with juicy filling. Slice and serve with freshly whipped cream.

Results
A happy Pi Day, indeed. Delicious crust, slightly tart filling easily sweetened with a dollop of whipped cream.

Discussion and Future Directions
To be totally honest, I think strawberry pie and berry pies in general are kind of strange. Growing up, we only had pie for holidays. Cream pies and pumpkin pies were standard. We never had a fruit pie (unless you count coconut cream). I was 22 when I had my first berry pie. It was a delicious homemade raspberry pie. I got the "recipe" (if you can call a list of ingredients with amounts like "a few cups of berries" and "as much sugar as it takes" a recipe) but I never made it.

So, if I think berry pies are strange, why did I make one for Pi Day? Because I was being irrational. Luckily, it turned out beautifully. It even started an intellectual debate about how to calculate the volume of a pie. People were throwing around ideas like "calculate the volume of a cone, then subtract the volume of the small cone that is taller than the pie." I offered calculus. Use integrals and the disc method and rotation around an axis. Needless to say, we decided the pie was better eaten than measured, so we left the math for another day. Happy (belated) Pi Day!

Supplementary Materials

Holiday Traditions: Pumpkin Pie

In my family, holidays are all about tradition. I've been longing for the day we can break tradition and mix up our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations, but I do commend my mom for making small changes that have helped decreased the stress level of holiday meals. For example, we no longer have a turkey for Christmas. Instead, my mom has started a tradition of making pot roast. While she could have made it really easy, she chose to make two kinds of pot roast this year, one in the slow cooker and one in the oven, plus a ham "for leftovers." Like I said, she's starting to make small changes. The one thing she's never let me change is dessert. My grandma Marvel always made pumpkin and chocolate meringue pie for holidays, so that's the tradition. I can add pies or cheesecake to the traditional menu, but I am simply not allowed to forgo pumpkin pie and chocolate meringue pie.

Thanksgiving 2010: Grandma Marvel taught me to make pie!

Last November, when Cowboy MD Boyfriend came to St. Louis, we made this pumpkin pie out of a cushaw squash. When I told my mom about the delicious pumpkin pie we made, I explained that I asked the farmers at Soulard Farmers' Market for whatever squash would make the best pie. They all concurred that sugar pumpkins or "pie pumpkins" are not the best choice. They all suggested butternut over pumpkin and other unique varieties over butternut. I told her I had frozen some of the pureed squash and would love to make it into our Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.  Her response was something to the effect of "No way, no how. That's not a pumpkin pie. Pumpkin pie is made with pumpkin!" I tried to convince her that it would taste even better than pumpkin pie, but she wouldn't listen (even after I explained that most canned pumpkin is actually made of butternut squash).

This year, I was put in charge of Christmas pies and would be making them by myself. Since I was in charge, I got to use my own recipe for pumpkin pie and chocolate meringue pie and pick my own ingredients. I decided to make the Better Homes and Gardens Pumpkin Pie recipe instead of my grandma's go-to, the Libby's recipe written on the can of pumpkin puree. Since I knew that I wouldn't be able to find a cushaw squash in Madison, I picked up a butternut squash. The night before I planned to bake the pie, I sliced the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, placed it cut-side down onto a foil-lined baking sheet and baked both halves at 350º until the skin was pulling away from the flesh and the flesh was tender enough to be scooped out of the skin. I measured out 1 1/4 cup and refrigerated it overnight. Before making the pie, I pureed the squash in the food processor, then proceeded to make the recipe.

Objective
Make a pumpkin pie with butternut squash. Recipe based on Better Homes and Gardens' Pumpkin Pie with Hazelnut Mousse.

Materials
1 blind-baked pie crust, cooled *read more in the Discussion
1 1/4 cup butternut squash puree
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2/3 cup skim milk
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 375º.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, stir the butternut squash puree, dark and light brown sugars, salt, ginger, cinnamon, and cloves until the sugar dissolves and the puree is hot throughout, about 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Whisk together the eggs, skim milk, heavy whipping cream, and vanilla. Gently whisk into the cooling puree. Place the pie crust on a sheet pan and pour the filling into the crust.
4. Bake the pie for 1 hour, then insert a knife into the center of the pie. If the pie is done, the knife will come out clean. If not, continue to bake until it is done cooking. *Note: be sure to monitor the color of the crust as the pie bakes. Once it gets to the shade of brown you prefer, use a pie shield to prevent the crust from burning. You can make your own pie shield by cutting a circle that barely overlaps the filling out of the center of a piece of aluminum foil and setting it over the pie plate.
5. Cool on a wire rack and then refrigerate. Serve with whipped cream (or the hazelnut mousse from the link above).

Results
The pie was more of a deep brown than orange with a deep caramel flavor. (If you use a cushaw squash, it will be caramely and nutty--if you choose a squash at a farmers' market, ask the farmers for their recommendation. They'll be able to tell you how the squash tastes cooked and they'll know what makes the best pie!) While I didn't post the hazelnut mousse recipe, it was a huge hit and all agreed that it could be eaten by the spoonful. Ours was technically almond mousse because I used amaretto, but nevertheless, it was rich, flavorful, and very creamy.

Discussion and Future Directions
Everyone has their own secret to the perfect holiday pie. C's mom makes hers with sweetened condensed milk in place of evaporated milk and she doubles the spices. My grandma always made hers following the recipe on the back of the can exactly as written. While you can get away with the pumpkin pie recipe on the back of the can of pumpkin puree, I think this one is more flavorful. Plus, you can probably make it with things you have on hand since it doesn't require evaporated milk. If you want an extra special holiday dessert, serve with the hazelnut mousse. Hosting for kids? While it doesn't have that much alcohol, you could leave out the liquor and flavor it with vanilla or almond extract if you don't feel comfortable letting kids eat it. While we generally make our chocolate cream pie with meringue, I kind of wish it had been slathered with the mousse, it's that good!

A note on the crust: the original recipe contains a crust recipe that makes three single crust pies. You can absolutely choose to make that crust, but know that it will shrink tremendously (so don't spend time decorating the edges). It's an interesting recipe that uses vinegar and sour cream. The final product is very buttery and flakey. I made the full crust recipe and used the pastry to make a pumpkin, chocolate cream, and a German chocolate pecan pies. If you have a favorite pie crust, feel free to use it!

Supplementary Materials

The cushaw squash version (that's not the crust recipe from the link)

Winter Squash Cheesecake with Pecan Streusel

Last fall, I set out to make a homemade pumpkin pie. I went to the Soulard Farmer's Market in St. Louis in search of a pie pumpkin, but all the farmers I talked to agreed that I should forgo the pumpkin for other types of winter squash. I settled on an orange striped cushaw squash. The farmer told me that the texture was similar to a butternut (meaning not stringy) but with a sweeter, nuttier flavor. It was almost 2 feet long, gourd-shaped, and a beautiful light orange with white stripes. It was a lot of squash to bake, but worth it. We used it to make a delicious pie with a decadent amaretto mascarpone mousse. It was the perfect end to a fall day spent playing in the leaves at Forest Park. I remember packing two pieces "to-go" for C to take with him on the plane back to Houston. It seems like all of those flights between Houston and St. Louis were a lifetime ago. I am grateful that we now live in the same city.

This past Saturday, it felt like fall might have finally made its way to Houston. When we woke up, it was chilly and the sky was a bit overcast. C put on a flannel shirt and I chose a sweater. It turned out to be a lovely, sunny day, though the high was only 67º. We met a friend for pastries, stopped at a coffee shop, grabbed lunch at the Korean Festival, and picked out pumpkins to paint (since they rot too quickly once they've been carved). While perusing the bins of pumpkins, I came across a bin of "decorative squash." I got excited thinking I might find a cushaw squash. Sure enough! There weren't any orange cushaws but there were a number of green cushaw squash to choose from. Since the price was per squash instead of per pound, C picked out the biggest one.

So far we've only prepared the neck and it made over 5 cups of puree! I'm hoping to cook the bottom bit by bit to use in dishes that call for chunks of cooked squash instead of puree. We'll probably be eating cushaw squash everything for the next month. Serendipitously, we have overnight visitors every weekend for the next 3 weeks, so we'll have plenty of mouths to feed! Plus, sleepovers are the best excuse for cinnamon rolls and I'm already dreaming up a cushaw squash version! In the meantime, I decided to make a cushaw squash cheesecake.

I met C on a chilly October morning two years ago. Later that evening, while we were talking at a Halloween party, it came up I liked to bake. He asked my specialty. I told him cheesecake (though I have no idea why). He keeps pointing out that we've been dating over a year and a half and I have yet to bake him a cheesecake. This one should satisfy him for at least another year!

Objective
Make a layered cheesecake using a cushaw squash. The filling was adapted from Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake from Chocolate and Carrots and the crust is based on Graham Cracker Crust from The Kitchn.

Materials
For the crust:
2 cups graham cracker/gingersnap/coconut shortbread crumbs (or any combination thereof)
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger (omit if using gingersnaps)
pinch nutmeg
pinch cloves
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the cheesecake:
8 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
1/4 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 egg
2 tbsp. sour cream or Greek yogurt
1/4 cup winter squash puree (see Supplementary Materials)
1 tsp. light brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ginger
pinch cloves
pinch nutmeg

For the streusel topping:
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup light brown sugar
pinch cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350º.
2. Make the crust: Crumble the graham crackers/cookies into a food processor. Add the sugar and spices. Process until the graham crackers are fine crumbs. Stir in the melted butter until well combined. Pat into a 9" pie plate, making sure to cover the bottom and sides. Set aside.
3. Make the filling: Cream the cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla until smooth. Beat in the egg, then stir in the sour cream. Pour all but 1/2 cup of the batter into the graham cracker crust. Use a spatula to move the filling to the edges and smooth into an even layer. Stir the pumpkin/squash puree, brown sugar, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg into the remaining 1/2 cup filling. Pour over the bottom cheesecake layer and spread evenly. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the streusel topping.
3. Make the streusel topping: Combine the streusel ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Rub the butter into the sugar to form a crumble topping. Set aside. Once the cheesecake has baked for 20 minutes, remove it from the oven. Sprinkle the crumble topping in an even layer over the cheesecake. Return to the oven for 15-20 minutes, or until the center of the cheesecake has set. Cool completely on a wire rack, then refrigerate overnight before serving.

Results
The crust was aromatic and flavorful (for full disclosure: I used 1 package of graham crackers and as many coconut shortbread cookies as it took to make 2 cups of crumbs). The cheesecake layer was thin but creamy with the flavor of pumpkin pie. The topping lent a crunch and was buttery and just sweet enough.

Discussion and Future Directions
This was a huge hit! We took it to a birthday party and came home with just one slice that was missing its tip. Everyone happily devoured their piece and I know at least one person had a second. The only complaint was that I didn't make two (after I shared that the original recipe made 2 cheesecakes). I was proud of myself for only making one because I suspected that if I'd made two, two would have been eaten. I was also very pleased that the pecan streusel turned out well after halving both the butter and the sugar. I certainly didn't miss either and actually thought that the butter could be reduced a bit more.

The only other change I might make in the future would be to make 1.5x the filling. The amount of filling here is the perfect amount for a store-bought graham cracker crust (because they're a little smaller than 9"). I think this turned out great (and lower calorie) as I made it, but it would have been nice to see a little bit more of the winter squash layer. Alternatively, I could put the squash layer on the bottom and the white layer on top. To tell it true, this recipe doesn't need tweaking! Plus, it would make a wonderful addition to a Thanksgiving table in addition to or in place of pumpkin pie.

Supplementary Materials

Winter Squash Puree
(For example: pumpkin, cushaw, butternut, delicata, or kabocha)
Preheat the oven to 350º. Line a baking sheet with greased foil. Remove the stem of the squash and cut the squash in half the long way. Scoop out the seeds and place the squash cut-side-down onto the prepared baking sheet. Bake until a fork easily pierces the skin and flesh of the squash. Depending on the size of your squash, this could range from 30 minutes to 90 minutes. Let the squash cool until you can touch it without burning your fingers. Scoop the flesh from the skin and process it in the food processor or blender until smooth. *If you're lucky enough to find a cushaw, you'll probably want to cut off the stem and the neck and prepare the neck and base of the squash separately.

Cherry Mascarpone Gelato

Mascarpone is a food that deludes me. Whenever I see it, I want it. Whenever I have it, I have no idea what to do with it. I'm convinced that I will find something amazing that just isn't quite right without it. So far, the best thing I've made with mascarpone was a berry pizza at a pizza night we had with another couple. The mascarpone was mixed with honey, spread on pizza, and baked. Then the whole thing was topped with fresh blueberries and strawberries. While we were all full from our zucchini vege pizza and C's salmon and dill pizza, we found the room for small slices of this dessert pizza because it was so tasty.

Other than that, I've used it in a batch of disappointing tuscan lemon muffins (they tasted like they were fried from the oil) and a fully-homemade lasanga. It tastes just like cream but it's very thick, so I don't have a clue how people use it as spread on muffins, etc. That just sounds gross.

There is an Italian cafe and market here in Houston that makes a delicious berry mascarpone gelato. I knew I had to try it myself. I scoured the web for recipes, but none of them seemed quite right. I wanted more than a tablespoon or two of mascarpone, but less than a cup (if you look at the nutrition label, you'll know why). I decided I'd try adapting my vanilla gelato recipe (based on David Leite's Pistachio Gelato). I wanted to reduce the fat in the gelato because the mascarpone would add plenty.

Objective
Make gelato with berries and mascarpone.

Materials
Custard base:
15 oz. sweet red cherries (in order of preference: fresh, frozen--thawed and drained, canned and drained)
2 tbsp. sugar
2 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup cream
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar (may add up to 2 tbsp. to taste)
1/2 cup mascarpone
1/4-1/2 tsp. almond extract (or vanilla) to taste, optional
Gelato:
3 oz. chocolate, melted over a double boiler and placed in a small sealable bag
1/4 cup slivered almonds, chopped (optional)

Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Place the cherries in an 8x8" baking dish. Toss with 2 tbsp. sugar. Roast for 30 minutes or until the juices start flowing and bubbling. Chop 1/4 to 1/2 of the cherries and put them in the fridge to chill. Put the rest in the blender with the whole milk and cream. Blend until the cherries are smooth.
2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm but do not boil the milk/cream/cherry puree. Meanwhile, in the bowl of a stand mixer, whisk together the egg yolks with 1/2 cup sugar until pale. When the cream is warm, transfer 1/4 cup to the whipped egg yolks while continuing to whisk. Pour this tempered mixture into the rest of the warm milk mixture and stir to prevent the eggs from cooking.
3. Continue to cook over medium heat. Stir the mixture until it thickens (around 175-180º). The custard should coat the back of a spoon (think the texture of pudding, but maybe a little less thick). Remove from heat. Transfer the custard to a large measuring cup or batter bowl with a spout.
4. Prepare an ice water bath in a large bowl. Place the custard container in the water bath and stir the custard occasionally until cool. Whisk in the mascarpone. Stir in the almond or vanilla extract. Chill completely (overnight is best). Make sure the bowl of your ice cream maker is in the freezer chilling.
5. To prepare the ice cream: Have the melted chocolate at your side and start churning the ice cream per the manufacturer's instructions. In the last few minutes, add the chopped cherries and almonds (if using). Slowly pipe in the melted chocolate. Transfer to a freezer-safe bowl and freeze until firm (2-3 hours).

Results
The cherry flavor wasn't as strong as expected (probably because I used canned cherries). It's not overly sweet and you can taste the cream flavor of the mascarpone.

Discussion
The pistachio gelato still reigns as the best gelato/frozen dessert I've made to date. The custard base is a great starting point for other recipes because I know I like the texture (smooth and rich but doesn't feel fatty or leave a layer of fat over your teeth). This time around, I reduced the cream a bit to compensate for the mascarpone. Next time, I would add one more egg yolk and only use 1/4 cup mascarpone. An additional egg yolk might add to the richness/thickness of the gelato to compensate for some of the missing cream. Less mascarpone would not only reduce the total fat, but it would improve the flavor (at least for me as I don't love the flavor of cream). If you love the flavor of cream, you'll probably like it it as is. I don't know that roasting the cherries added anything (again, probably because I used canned). I think I would put the whole 15 oz. in the blender and not leave any chunks. I'd just have the flecks of chocolate and almonds for crunch (if I was in the mood for crunch).

Verdict on mascarpone? I'm still not sold. It still doesn't seem worth the price or effort (not to mention calories). Do you have any amazing mascarpone recipes? I'd love to try them!

Hatch Chile Ice Cream Sandwiches

It's hatch chile season. If you don't know what a hatch chile is, don't worry, you're not alone. I didn't know what a hatch chile was until last year when my boyfriend moved to Texas. One evening, he went to dinner at an upscale Mexican restaurant that had a seasonal "hatch chile menu." Early summer is "flor de calazaza" or squash blossom season; late summer is hatch chile season. This is the time of year when grocery stores dedicate space to hatch chile everything and chefs design special sauces and meals highlighting the chile in their own unique ways. These are important things to know if you ever move to Houston.

The hatch chile is essentially an anaheim chile, but grown in the Hatch Valley of New Mexico. Different varieties have been cultivated for different heat scores. The fame given to this specific variety is year-to-year consistency and many people think the flavor is superior to other varieties. I don't know that I've ever had a regular old anaheim chile, so I can't put my vote one way or the other. What I can tell you is that when we tried "mild" vs. "hot" side-by-side at the grocery store, the roasted "hot" hatch won ten-times over. The "mild" hatch was not good: it lacked heat and any sort of delicious flavor. The "hot" hatch definitely brought the heat, but it also had flavor. Maybe we just got a bad mild chile. I'll have to try again!

We bought 2 bags of roasted "hot" hatch chiles and I bought 2 fresh hatch chiles. We used them for chile con queso, tomatillo vegetable stew, tomato pork stew, corn and rice stuffed peppers, zucchini and tortilla chip fritatta, and chocolate chip cookies. The winners were chile con queso, tomato pork stew, and chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches. The vege stew was a little to acidic from the tomatillos without something basic to balance the flavor. The stuffed peppers and fritatta were lacking in flavor. You really can't go wrong with chile con queso as long as it includes chile and queso. We got the recipe for the tomato pork stew from a recipe card lying in the crate of hatch chiles. It was really delicious, though I might like some more textures in it (maybe some sort of grain). The idea to make hatch pepper cookies came from the hatch pepper chocolate chip cookies they were selling at the grocery store. They didn't have samples, so I knew I needed to try baking a batch myself.

Objective
Make chocolate chip cookies with hatch chiles and whole grains (since I'm still on a quest for the perfect whole grain chocolate chip cookie). Recipe based on the original Toll-House recipe, but with reduced sugar and whole grains.

Materials
1/2 cup butter, partially softened, partially melted
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. toasted wheat germ
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 cup hot hatch chile, roasted, de-stemmed/skinned/seeded, patted dry, and chopped
1/2-3/4 cup dark chocolate, chopped
Vanilla ice cream (~1/4 cup per sandwich)

Methods
To make the cookies:
1. Cream the butter, dark brown sugar, and white sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flours, wheat germ, baking soda, salt, and chopped hatch chile. Stir into the creamed mixture until just combined. Stir in the chopped chocolate.
3. Chill the dough for 30 minutes to 1 hour (this is important or you'll get puffy, cake like cookies that take over your entire pan). Shortly before the dough is done chilling, preheat the oven to 375º.
4. Use a teaspoon to form dough balls and place about 2 inches apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet or seasoned baking stone. Bake for 12 minutes, or until the edges are brown and the middles are still a little wiggly. Cool on the pan for 3-5 minutes, then cool completely on a wire rack.

To make the ice cream sandwiches:
1. Set the ice cream on the counter to soften for a few minutes then scoop the ice cream and smash it between two cookies. Alternatively, let the ice cream soften quite a bit (stirring it helps a lot). When smooth, spread it over the bottom of a baking dish to a depth of 1/2". Return it to the freezer to firm-up. Use a biscuit cutter or circular cookie cutter to cut out circles of ice cream. Use a spoon to lift the ice cream out of the pan and place it between two cookies.
2. Return the ice cream sandwiches to the freezer until ready to eat. Makes 1 dozen ice cream sandwiches (with a few extra cookies).

Results
The cookies are very soft and chewy. They spread out a lot while baking, but that made them ideal for ice cream sandwiches. The heat is fairly subtle and you can't taste it in every bite. With ice cream, the cookies are even better. The dairy helps with the heat and gives the cookies a way to shine, since as straight up cookies, they're a little thin (but not crispy).

Discussion and future directions
I've been trying different recipes for whole grain chocolate chip cookies. So far, my biggest complaint has been that people reduce the butter to make them healthier and that kind of ruins the texture. I tried 100% whole wheat flour and whole wheat pastry flour with oat flour, neither of which was quite right. I decided to try a 50:50 whole wheat pastry flour to all-purpose flour ratio here, but with the additional moisture from the chiles (and dark brown sugar), I needed to add more flour to get the dough to the right texture. I chose to increase the all-purpose flour, though you could swap amounts. Did you know that you can use wheat germ in cookies? There are  a few recipes floating around for chocolate chip cookies with wheat germ, like this one from King Arthur Flour. I started out with just a couple of tablespoons to try it. I didn't even know it was there, so I'd happily try it again with more.

I think this recipe would also be great as cookie bars or modified into hatch chile blondies. These are fun because they are different. No one expects to heat when they bite into a cookie. Making them into ice cream sandwiches is optional, but recommended. Ice cream sandwiches hit just the right spot on a hot August afternoon in Texas, hatch chiles optional.

Supplementary Materials

Zucchini Butterscotch Blondies (Updated)

Warning: Do not make these blondies when you're home alone. Last night, my roommate came home to find half of a zucchini, a block of chocolate, and a cup of melted butter on the counter. He immediately voiced concern, wondering what on Earth I was making this time. I reassured him that I'd made this recipe before and that it was very good and that there was no need for skepticism! 

Once the blondies were cool, I ate a corner piece to try them and went to bed. The next morning, I found the blondies half-eaten (see the photo below), proof that there was no reason for him to be worried! This recipe is a crowd pleaser, and now, it's a little healthier. The recipe has always included vegetables (well, botanically speaking, fruit), but now, there's less sugar and a little bit of increased nutrition from the whole grain. This is a great dish to take to a picnic or potluck because if you keep it around the house, you'll realize you ate the whole batch in about 36 hours. (I wish I were kidding.) If you're taking it to a gathering of 10 or more, I suggest doubling the recipe. I doubt there will be leftovers.

Objective
Revamp my Zucchini Butterscotch Blondies with the addition of whole grain flour and less sugar.

Materials
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. brown sugar
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. white sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup zucchini, freshly grated (1 small zucchini)
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
1/2 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped (or semisweet chips)


Methods
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease an 8x8 inch baking dish.
2. Beat butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg and vanilla.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, then sift it into the butter-sugar mixture. Beat until just incorporated.
4. Stir in the grated zucchini, half of the butterscotch chips and all of the chocolate.
5. Spread the batter evenly in the 8x8 inch baking dish. Sprinkle with the remaining butterscotch chips.
6. Bake 30 minutes. Cool completely before slicing.

Results
These are not too sweet, which allows the butterscotch flavor to shine without being overpowered by the sugar. They are extremely moist and crumbly, which prevents them from feeling like cake.

Discussion and Future Directions
Immediately out of the oven, these looked very cakey. I was heartbroken and scrambled to find a sticky-note or recipe card or loose sheet of paper with the recipe I'd been working to perfect in St. Louis. I was worried that I'd written it down wrong in my blog post. Was there too much baking powder? Did I really use baking soda instead of baking powder? I figured I'd let them cool and see how they turned out.

They turned out great. The moisture from the zucchini helped give them a denser, not chewy, but thicker texture. Increasing the amount of butterscotch chips and decreasing the amount of sugar made them taste like butterscotch without making you pucker at the sweetness. I think these are an improvement over my previous recipe if you aren't looking for something super sweet (which is often expected with butterscotch cookies or other butterscotch treats). Don't like butterscotch? Feel free to replace the butterscotch chips with chocolate chips, but you might want to add an extra tablespoon or two of each of the sugars. I highly recommend you try this with your next zucchini! I also recommend that you shred some zucchini to freeze so that you have it on hand for zucchini bread, zucchini cake, and zucchini blondies once summer, and with it zucchini season, is over.

Supplementary Materials

Blueberry Sour Cream Crumble Pie

As we were getting ready for bed one night, C asked me to tell him a story. Having just finished baking a pie, I decided to tell him a story about the first pie I ever made. It took me awhile to remember which pie actually was my first pie. My first pie was apple. I was in high school, and for some reason, I decided I needed to make a pie. I told my mom that I wanted to make apple pie and she gave me the Oh-no-way!-I'm-not-getting-involved-in-this!-If-you-start-it-you'd-better-finish-it-yourself attitude that comes along with anything it the kitchen that she considers "fussy." If I remember correctly, my dad happily volunteered his hands for apple peeling. Anyway, after hours pie making and baking, I realized that I don't really like apple pie.

You know what's funny? I knew I didn't like apple pie, but nevertheless I decided to try again while I was in graduate school. I made not only one but two apple pies the same day (I always intended to blog about the second and post more of the beautiful pictures that my friend took, but never got excited enough about apple pie to actually do it). I ended up feeding about 60% of the two pies to said friend and inevitably threw out what was left after it sat in the fridge for a few too many days.

The pie that I often confuse with my first pie is a strawberry rhubarb sour cream crumb pie. It was the first pie I made post-GF diet. I made it on a summer day with fresh rhubarb from the farmers' market. It was delicious, but still, I could only get excited to eat a piece, or maybe two. I made it for the third time last summer and again, wasn't as excited to eat it as I was to make it. Finally, I was realizing that pie just isn't my thing. However, I've learned over the years that men love pie. We have a friend who bakes her husband a pie a month because he loves pie so much. C frequently asks me when he's going to start getting his pies of the month! Since they say that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I continue to make pie, even though I don't really like to eat it. Plus, I really can't pretend that I don't get satisfaction from pulling a beautiful homemade pie out of the oven.

Each of the past two nights, I've made a blueberry pie with 2 pounds of blueberries that I saw and had to have. I started with this gorgeous Buttermilk Blueberry Pie from Adventures in Cooking. I was very glad that I made it into a mini pie, because while I really enjoyed the blueberries (and the adorable cut out stars), the "custard" was chunky and chewy and really ruined the pie. Without ice cream, all would have been lost. Instead of the logical choice to make a blueberry pie straight-up, I decided to go the "sour cream crumb pie" route for a certain man I know who loves crumble topping. Apparently baking two pies with the same fruit two ways is my modus operandi.

Objective
Adapt my Strawberry Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumb Pie recipe to make a blueberry pie with crumble topping. I made the pie crust with a variation of the rye rough puff pastry from Peach Galettes.

Materials
Makes a 9" pie (or a 6" pie)

Crust (makes enough for two 9" pies; freeze leftovers):
3.25 oz. rye flour
1.0 oz whole wheat pastry flour
4.25 oz. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
3 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
6. oz unsalted butter, cold and cubed
2 oz. ice water + 1/2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

Filling:
4 cups fresh blueberries (2 cups)
1 cup sour cream/Greek yogurt (1/2 cup)
1 cup sugar (1/2 cup)
2 small limes, juiced (1 lime)

Crumble topping:
1/4 cup whole wheat flour (2 Tbsp.)
1/2 cup oats--quick cooking is fine (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup brown sugar (2 Tbsp.)
1/4 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut in cubes (2 Tbsp).

Methods
1. Preheat oven to 450º. Grease and flour pie pan and set aside.
2. To make the pie crust: Whisk together the flours, salt, sugar, and cinnamon. Rub the butter into the dry mixture with your fingers until you have pea-sized crumbles. While stirring, slowly add the water+apple cider vinegar. Mix only long enough to moisten the flour and make a dough. If it doesn't hold together when squeezed, add a little more water. Form the dough into a ball, flatten, wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour or more. Roll out to 1/8" thick. Lay into the pie plate. Trim the overhang to 1/2 inch over the edge. Fold the edge under and crimp the edges. Use the trimmed edges to cut out fun shapes for decorating the top of the pie (optional)
3. To make the filling: Gently place the blueberries into the crust. Mix the sour cream (or yogurt), sugar, and lime juice. Pour over the blueberries.
4. To make the crumble topping: In a small bowl, stir together the dry ingredients. Add the butter, and rub the butter into the dry ingredients by pinching it between your fingers. Crumble over the filling. The crumble should cover the entire pie. If you decided to make decorative shapes, brush them with water, sprinkle them with sugar and arrange them on top of the crumble.
5. Bake at 450º for 15 minutes (or 10 minutes for smaller pie), then reduce the oven temperature to 350º, cover the pie with a tent of foil, and continue baking for 25-30 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack. Chill before serving.

Results
This is the "beauty and brains" version of blueberry pie. Not only does it look pretty, it tastes like blueberry with a little tartness. The crust is a lovely brown and flavorful. The crumble gives texture and oat flavor. Oh yeah, and it's even kind of healthy if you make it with protein-packed Greek yogurt!

Discussion and Future Directions
Since I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream and added oats to the crumb topping to make it crumble topping, this pie could aptly be called "Blueberry Yogurt Parfait Pie." However my fear was that people would think that it was an unbaked pie. Instead, it's a whole grain crust filled with a creamy, tangy blueberry filling, topped with oaty goodness then baked to release the juices and solidify the cream just a smidgen. The end result is a wonderfully flavorful, juicy purple pie. I couldn't be more pleased with how it turned out.

I didn't cite my Strawberry Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumb Pie recipe because I have no idea where I found it. I've tried searching for it online but can only find recipes that include flour (and often egg) in the filling. My recipe doesn't. I was beginning to wonder if that was an Abby-opps and I wrote the recipe down wrong. Sure enough, I just found an e-mail to myself from June 5, 2011 for Strawberry Rhubarb Sour Cream Crumb Pie that specifically says "Mix sugar and 1/3 cup flour with sour cream and pour evenly over fruit." There's also a note that it freezes well. As if this pie could be around long enough to freeze!

Clearly this pie doesn't require that extra 1/3 cup flour in the filling. In fact, it's gluten-free pie filling if you omit it! The crumble could easily be made gluten free by using the right oats (or just using oat flour and omitting flour all together). I'm also envisioning this served in little ramekins without even bothering to give it a crust. Fewer calories? Bonus! Oh my gosh, so many options!

Believe it or not, I had fun making and eating this pie. That makes it doubly rewarding! This recipe is a keeper, through and through.

Supplementary Materials

Vanilla Gelato with S'more Fixin's

Summer isn't complete without a bonfire surrounded by good friends. Growing up in Wisconsin, someone had a bonfire nearly every weekend when the weather permitted. The summer after my senior year of high school, I hosted a lot of bonfires because my family lives on a lake and we have a fire pit in our backyard. It's a really nice setting for a bonfire. Around the 4th of July, it's the perfect place to roast marshmallows and watch the fireworks being launched by neighbors. Our apartment complex in Houston has two fire pits sandwiched between a waterfall and a pond. While it's nice to have them, it's just not the same as back home.

A few weekends ago, we rented a beach house in Matagorda, Texas with some of our good friends. We were hoping we'd be able to have a bonfire on the beach. I made homemade amaretto marshmallows and homemade graham crackers for the occasion. I ran out of time to make homemade chocolate bars, but don't think I hadn't thought of it! Unfortunately, due to the lack of rain, there was a county-wide burn ban. We probably should have known that we wouldn't be able to have a fire because we'd already seen bone-dry ponds and waterways at a wildlife refuge just north of Matagorda.

I hoped we'd be able to use our grill to roast marshmallows instead of a bonfire, but the mosquitoes were so voracious that we were unwilling to leave the house except to run to the beach and back. (Thinking back, there was a fireplace in the house. If only I'd put two and two together...) In the end, we came home with as many homemade marshmallows and graham crackers as we took to the beach house. Defeated, C and I lit a "firewood" candle and made s'mores in our living room. Long after the graham crackers had been eaten, the marshmallows still sat on our counter. Determined to not let them go bad, I decided I'd try them in ice cream.

Objective
Make s'more ice cream using the basic custard recipe I used to make End of Summer Pistachio Almond Gelato.

Materials
Vanilla Gelato (makes about a pint of frozen gelato):
1 1/4 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla bean paste
1/16 tsp. salt
2 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar

S'more Fixin's:
1/2 cup chopped marshmallows (about half the size of a mini marshmallow)
1 cup chopped graham crackers (~3 graham crackers)
1.5 oz. chocolate (I used Cordillera Cocuy 70%)

Methods
To make the gelato base:
1. In a medium saucepan (with a heavy bottom if you have it) over medium heat, warm the whole milk, cream, vanilla bean paste, and salt. Warm it thoroughly but do not boil. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale (use an electric mixer if it's convenient).
2. When the cream mixture is nearly at a boil, remove it from heat. Temper the eggs by whisking about 1/4 cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs, then slowly stirring this mixture into the rest of the hot cream.
3. Place the pot back on medium heat. Stir constantly until the mixture begins to thicken (somewhere around 175°-180°). Stir until the custard covers the back of a wooden spoon and doesn't drip when you touch it.
4. Pour the custard into a large measuring cup or batter bowl (the spout will help you later). Place the custard in an ice bath to cool, stirring frequently. When the mixture is cool, place plastic wrap directly on the custard to seal it in the container. Refrigerate overnight (or however long it takes to chill completely--the colder the better).
To make the fixin's and gelato:
1. Place the oven rack next to the broiler and preheat the oven to 350°. Line a small baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprinkle with the chopped marshmallows. Bake the marshmallows until they are lightly browned on top. Take them out of the oven and move the foil with toasted marshmallows to a wire rack to cool slightly. Scrape the toasted marshmallow into a medium bowl with the chopped graham crackers. Stir to mix (kind of like making Rice Krispies). Set aside.
2. In the top of a double boiler, melt the chocolate (stirring frequently). Once melted, turn of the heat, but keep the chocolate in the double boiler so that it doesn't re-solidify.
3. Prepare your ice cream maker and churn the gelato base according to them manufacturer's instructions. (Note: It will freeze very quickly because it's a small batch. When adding the fixin's, you may need to use a spatula to help keep the ingredients moving in the machine.) Once the base is more-or-less solid, gradually add chunks of the mallowy-graham crackers (a fork is helpful because it will be really sticky). Finally, put the melted chocolate into a plastic bag and cut off one of the corners. Slowly stream the melted chocolate into the churning gelato. This will make little flakes of chocolate instead of chunks.
6. Scrape the gelato into a freezer-safe container with a lid. Place the gelato in the freezer and allow it to solidify, 30 minutes to an hour.

Results
Yum! I could have eaten the entire batch in one sitting. The gelato itself is nicely flavored and not too sweet. The texture is very creamy and thick like a custard. The s'more fixins fit into the texture nicely because they are all soft.

Discussion and Future Directions
I am very glad I chose to use my homemade marshmallows for s'more gelato! (I'm calling this gelato and not frozen custard or ice cream because the recipe for the original custard base was called a gelato and because the fat content is a lot lower than ice cream.) I was pleased that the gelato turned out as smooth and creamy as the pistachio gelato. I had trouble with the texture when I tried using the recipe for chocolate gelato. I think I've found the magic ratio of whole milk:cream:eggs for my taste. The texture is very much like that of a frozen custard vs. an ice cream, but, it's not so fatty as to leave your teeth coated in cream. I very much appreciate frozen desserts with a clean mouth feel. Nothing ruins ice cream like the inability to get it out of my mouth when I'm done eating it!

The fixin's turned out perfectly! I read a lot of recipes for different takes on s'more ice cream. None of them seemed quite right. The texture of fresh marshmallows in ice cream was distracting. Roasting them in the oven and stirring them into graham crackers gave the flavor of a s'more without making the marshmallow noticeable. I was nervous about the graham crackers getting soggy and debated whether or not that would be a good thing or a bad thing. I considered brushing them with melted chocolate to help them maintain a little crunch, but I'm glad I didn't. Instead, they provided soft little pockets of flavor. Finally, I was very pleased that I chose to make chocolate flecks or "stracciatella" instead of adding chunks of chocolate. Hershey's Milk Chocolate is soft enough that chunks would probably be ok, but anything more firm would hurt to bite into when frozen. Since I prefer dark chocolate to milk chocolate, I knew I wanted to use my secret stash of 70% chocolate. I buy it in big individually wrapped chunks from the grocery store. The first time I went to buy chocolate that way, I smelled every single dark chocolate and picked the one that smelled the best--Cordillera Cocuy 70%. I'm hooked. (So hooked that I recently bought a chunk the size of small hardcover novel.)

I'm also hooked on this gelato. It's definitely better than s'mores. Truthfully, I don't really like s'mores because they're so sweet they give me stomach aches. My mom argues that you have to have one s'more a summer for it to be considered summer. This gelato is my new s'more substitute. Not only does it taste better, but as an added bonus, I don't have to go outside in the hot, sticky Houston summer and get attacked by mosquitos to enjoy it! What a great and cooling take on the summer essential!

Supplementary Materials