Sweets – Pies

Hershey Bar Pie

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Does it get any easier?

Ingredients:

  • 1 prepared graham cracker crust (or chocolate if you can find it)
  • 1/2 c milk
  • 16 large marshmallows
  • 1 (8 ounce) Hershey chocolate bars with almonds, chopped (or the equiv in smaller bars) (or no almonds if you want)
  • 1 c whipping cream

Directions:

  1. Heat milk and marshmallows in top of a double boiler.
  2. Add Hershey bar.
  3. Stir until melted and combined.
  4. Allow to cool to room temperature.
  5. Whip cream until stiff.
  6. Fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture.
  7. Pour into the graham cracker crust.
  8. Chill at least one hour or until firm.

Serves:   6-8

Source:  Genius KItchen

Strawberry Pie

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It is not spring without strawberry pie!

Ingredients:

  • 1  refrigerated pie crust
  • 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
  • 1/3 c sugar
  • 1/4 to 1/2 tsp almond extract
  • 1 box strawberry pie glaze-filling (Salada Danish Dessert brand  for our family)
  • 2 pints (4 cups) strawberries
  • 1 pt whipping cream

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 450°F.
  2. Bake pie crust as directed.
  3. Cool completely.
  4. In large bowl with electric mixer, beat cream cheese on medium speed until fluffy.
  5. Gradually beat in sugar and almond extract until well blended.
  6. Spoon into cooled baked shell.
  7. Arrange strawberries, pointed side up, over cream cheese mixture.
  8. Prepare glaze according to box directions.
  9. Spoon over strawberries.
  10. Refrigerate at least 1 hour or until set.
  11. Whip cream with a little sugar and almond extract.
  12. Top pie with whipped cream.
  13. Store in refrigerator.

Serves:  6

Source:   GK

Note: Occasionally I mix the whipped cream with the cream cheese and drizzle chocolate on the top.

Max’s Super Cheese Pie

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There was a steak house in Palo Alto that made a wonderful dessert – Maerd Eip (Dream Pie spelled backwards.)  This is the same pie a la Good Housekeeping.  Guess what – I was wrong.  This is close, but no cigar, to the real Mared Eip.  Thanks to JP for contributing the REAL Mared Eip.  

Ingredients:

  • 1 graham cracker crust, unbaked
  • 12 oz cream cheese, softened (block not cream cheese spread)
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 c sugar
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 1 c sour cream
  • strawberries, peaches, or, for Maerd Eip, cherry sauce

Crust Ingredients:

  • 1 1/3 c graham cracker crumbs (18 single crackers)
  • 1/3 c brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/3 c butter, melted

Crust Directions:

Mix and press into buttered 9″ pie pan.

(You can buy these things now, you know?)

Filling Directions:

  1. Preheat oven 350°.
  2. Beat cream cheese until soft.
  3. Add sugar.
  4. Add eggs, one at a time.
  5. Add vanilla.
  6. Turn into pie shell.
  7. Bake 35 minutes.
  8. Gently spread sour cream on warm pie.
  9. Cool.
  10. Top with fruit

Cherry Sauce Ingredients:

  • ½ c sugar
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 pound frozen pitted sweet cherries, defrosted, 6 cups
  • ¼ c water
  • ½ tsp almond extract

Cherry Sauce Directions:

  1. Combine the cherries and their liquid with sugar, and ½ cup water in a large pan.
  2. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat and cook about 3 minutes.
  3. Remove the cherries to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
  4. Raise the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced to approximately ½ cup, about 5 minutes more. Watch – it will boil over!
  5. Pour sauce over the cherries.
  6. Add almond extract.
  7. Let cool to room temperature or chill.

Serves: 6 – 8

Source: Good Housekeeping Cook Book

Craig’s Cherry Cheese Pie

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So good and so easy!  And think about using blueberry or peach pie filling.

Ingredients:

  • 1 9″ graham cracker pie crust
  • 8 oz cream cheese, softened
  • 1 14 oz can Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk
  • 1/3 c lemon juice
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 12 oz can cherry pie filling

Directions:

  1. In a large mixer bowl, beat cheese until fluffy.
  2. Gradually beat in milk until smooth.
  3.  Stir in lemon juice and vanilla.
  4. Pour into pie crust.
  5. Chill 3 hours.
  6.  Top with pie filling (slightly drained).
  7.  Refrigerate.

Serves:  8

Source:  Craig Underwood from the Eagle Brand lable

 

French Cream

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Use as a dressing for fruit salad/dessert or a dip for fruit pieces.

Ingredients:

  • 8 oz cream cheese
  • 1 c powdered sugar
  • 1 c whipping cream
  • 1/4 c granulated sugar
  • 1 lemon, zested and juiced
  • Pineapple juice

Directions:

  1. Soften cream cheese and then whip with powdered sugar.
  2. Whip cream and sugar together until it forms soft peaks.
  3. Combine beaten cream cheese, whipped cream, lemon juice and zest
  4. Continue to beat, adding just enough pineapple juice to achieve desired consistency.
  5. Serve French Cream in pineapple shell.

Serves: Makes 3 cups

Source: foodnetwork.com – Paula-Deen

Chocolate Chess Pie

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No one seems to know why it is called “Chess Pie”  but chocolate and cherries -mmmmm good!

Ingredients:

  • 2 unbaked 9-inch pie crusts in glass pie pans
  • 1 c butter
  • 6 ounces dark chocolate
  • 3 c sugar
  • 2 Tab flour
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla
  • 12 ounce can evaporated milk
  • whipped cream
  • Dark Cherry Sauce

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 400°
  2. Prick holes in pie crust to prevent bubbling.
  3. Bake pie crusts for 8 minutes.
  4. Remove from oven to rack.
  5. Decrease oven temperature to 375 °.
  6. In large saucepan on low melt butter and chocolate, stirring occasionally.
  7. In medium bowl, combine sugar and flour with wire whisk.
  8. In another bowl, whisk together eggs, vanilla and evaporated milk.
  9. Add a couple of tablespoonfuls of the melted chocolate mixture to the egg mixture and stir.
  10. Add both sugar and egg mixtures to pan of melted chocolate.
  11. Stir to combine.
  12. Increase heat to medium and stir constantly for 10 minutes. (really, stir constantly or you will have chocolate scrambled eggs.)
  13. Evenly divide filling between the 2 pie pans.
  14. Bake for 30 minutes. It will be soft.
  15. Serve with Dark Cherry Sauce and whipped cream.

Serves: Makes 2 Pies

Source: Carroll Pellegrinelli – about.com

Dark Cherry Sauce

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ c sugar
  • 2 tsp almond extract
  • 2 pound frozen pitted sweet cherries, defrosted, 6 cups
  • ¼ c water
  • ½ tsp almond extract

Directions:

  1. Combine the cherries and their liquid with sugar, and ½ cup water in a large pan.
  2. Bring to a simmer over moderate heat and cook about 3 minutes.
  3. Remove the cherries to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
  4. Raise the heat to medium-high and boil until the liquid is reduced to approximately ½ cup, about 5 minutes more. Watch – it will boil over!
  5. Pour sauce over the cherries.
  6. Add almond extract.
  7. Let cool to room temperature or chill.

Serves: Makes approximately 5 cups

Source: Laura b. Russell, Recipe Developer and Cookbook Author

Comment: The sauce can be made ahead. Keep it in the refrigerator, covered.

Sour Cream Apple Pie (sans crust)

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I am not fond of pie crust so I just put this into a casserole and baked it.  YUM!

Ingredients

Filling:

  • 1¼ cup sour cream
  • 2/3 cup sugar
  • 3 Tablespoons flour
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 egg
  • 6 cups peeled, sliced tart apples (about 1 1/4 pounds of slices)
  • 1 9″ unbaked pie shell, frozen or chilled in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or a 2 quart baking dish.

Topping:

  • ½ cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1/3 cup flour
  • ¼ cup butter, room temperature
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon (or more, more is always better)

 

Instructions

1.  Preheat oven to 400°F.
2.  Beat together sour cream, sugar, flour, salt, vanilla and egg (can beat by hand).
3. Add apples, mixing carefully to coat well.
4. Put filling into a pie shell and bake at 400 degrees initially for 15 min. (or in a 2 quart baking dish)
5. Reduce oven to 350° and continue baking for 30 more minutes.
6. While the pie is baking, prepare the topping by stiring together flour, sugar, cinnamon.
7. Cut in cold butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs.
8. After 30 minutes, remove from oven and sprinkle with Topping.
9. Bake for and additional 20 more minutes or until topping is browned.

Let cool for a hour before serving.

Serves: 8.  (Ha Ha – 4 of us finished it off!)

Source:  This is a combination of a recipe from Pillsbury and allrecipes.com


Lazy Mary’s Lemon Tart

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OMG!!! Is this good!  Can’t wait to try it with limes or blood oranges.

Ingredients:

  • 1 unbaked (9 inch) tart shell (didn’t find tart shells so used pie shell)
  • 1 large Meyer lemon (about 6 ounces) cut into 8 pieces and seeded (I used a regular lemon about the same weight – and cut into smaller pieces)
  • 1 1/2 c super fine sugar (used regular)
  • 1/2 c (1 stick) butter (yes, real butter)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 4 eggs (no change! regular chicken eggs)

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 350°.
2. Prick the bottom of the tart shell lightly with a fork.
3. Line it with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
4. Fill it with pie weights (you can use dried beans and save them to use as weights the next time you bake).  (I used some rice and threw it away – did not fill the shell, just covered the bottom).
5. Place the tart shell on a baking sheet.  (Do this – it is very liquid and will spill as you put it in the oven)
6. Bake until the rim of the tart is dried and set, about 15 minutes (time may vary depending on the dough or brand).
7. Remove the weights and the aluminum foil and return the tart shell to the oven to bake until the crust is set but not completely baked through, about 10 minutes more.
8. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.  In a blender (not food processor) puree the lemon (yes, the whole lemon – peel and all), sugar, butter, vanilla, and eggs until smooth, 2 to 3 minutes. This makes about 3 cups filling.
9. Pour the filling into the pre-baked tart shell until the filling almost reaches the top of the rim of the crust; you may not use all of the filling.
10. Place the tart in the oven and bake until puffed and golden and the filling jiggles only slightly when tapped, about 40 minutes.  The filling will brown around edges, but should not be overly brown in the center, if it begins to brown too quickly, cover the top lightly with aluminum foil and continue baking.
11. Remove and cool on a rack.

Serves: 8

Adapted from Food52.  Published int the Los Angeles Times

Notes:
• Tastes like lemon bars.
• Might sprinkle a little powdered sugar on top to dress it up.
• Gloria wants the recipe.
⋅ Tried this with blood orange, came out an ugly color, maybe a little red food coloring would help. (3/2015)

 

Chocolate Pecan Strata

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This is a truly faboo desert that everyone will enjoy. It’s also a very long one to make — do not wait until 8 p.m. the previous night to start making it, because the various layers have to set in the fridge at each step.
Ingredients:
1½ sticks Butter, melted
1½ c Flour
1 c Pecans, chopped
—
8 oz Cream Cheese
1 c Powdered Sugar
2 c Whipped Cream
—
6 oz Instant Chocolate Pudding Mix
6 oz Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
4 c Milk
…
Chocolate sprinkles, shavings, or chopped semi-sweet chocolate chips
You can substitute walnuts for pecans. You can also substitute Cool Whip for the whipped cream (but it’s not as good).
Instructions:

  • Crust: Mix butter, flour, nuts. Press into 9×13 baking pan. Bake 20 min. at 400°.
  • Layer 1: Fold together cream cheese, powdered sugar, 1 c of whipped cream. Spoon over crust. Refrigerate until set.
  • Layer 2: Mix chocolate pudding mix with 2 c milk. Spoon onto cream cheese mix. Refrigerate until set.
  • Layer 3: As Layer 2, only with vanilla pudding mix.
  • Layer 4: Spread with 1 c whipped cream.
  • Top with chocolate doodads mentioned above (just before serving).

Source: Dave, via Gloria Hill.

Dave’s Favorite Pecan Pie

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Dave makes a mean pecan pie. But it’s really, really simple.

Ingredients for one 9″ Pie:
¼ c Butter
⅔ c Brown Sugar, firmly packed
—
¼ tsp Salt
⅛ tsp Cinnamon
⅛ tsp All-Spice
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¾ c Dark Corn Syrup
3½ Eggs, beaten (round down)
1 tsp Vanilla
—
1 c Pecan Halves
1 9″ Pie Crust

Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 450°
  2. Cream sugar and butter together until fluffy.
  3. Beat in next 7 ingredients.
  4. Line pie pan with crust, then pecans. Pour filling in.
  5. Bake at 450° for 10 minutes.
  6. Bake at 350° for 35+ minutes, until knife in the center comes out clean.

An 8″ pie pan, if that’s what you have, is about 20% less.

Source: The Encyclopedia of Cooking (modified)