Tag Archives: blueberry

Friendly Competition

02 Tuesday Oct 2012

Posted by in Berry Pie, Summer Fruit Pie

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We had a dessert-off at our church.

A dessert-off is what it sounds like…a free-for-all contest in which any dessert may be entered. No parameters.

What kind of pie would you make in this situation, given 212 recipes to choose from? I was at a loss. Should I make a chocolate pie? Everyone likes chocolate…but then again, I was sure many of the desserts would be chocolatey.

Nectarines were in season (this was at the very beginning of September. California seasons.) I also like nectarines a lot. I decided that I wasn’t going to find one pie that would please everyone, so I might as well pick one that pleased me.

Added some blueberries, to please the hubby.

Now normally I don’t give away my secret ingredients so easy. But as this recipe is neither mine nor a secret, being as it’s published in Ken Haedrich’s Pie, I’ll just go ahead and tell you that the key to success here is almond extract. Don’t skip it.

Deep Dish Nectarine Pie with Almond Crumb Topping arrives at the dessert-off and nervously checks out the competition.

There are an array of other tasty and beautiful desserts around, from cupcakes to tarts to cheesecake and beyond.

But lo! What treachery is this? A decadent-looking Caramel Apple Pecan Pie made by an aspiring young pastry chef? What does this mean for poor Deep-Dish Nectarine?

It means that the competition will be stiff. Well done, young pie Jedi. I have my eye on you.

Although neither pie took home the prize, I should mention that they were both in the top four. Also, that they were delicious in my belly.

American Pie

01 Friday Jun 2012

Posted by in Berry Pie, Freeform Pie

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Summer is upon us. In California, the only real difference is that you can go to the beach and sit on the sand and not actually freeze to death (though you’ll still do that if you attempt to venture into the water). The sun is a little sunnier, people are a little happier, and the end of the school year is in sight, meaning that there will be more time to bake lots and lots of pies.

If pie is the ultimate American dessert, than a berry pie is the ultimate American summer dessert. One weekend in May, Levi and I decided to preemptively celebrate the coming summer by having an Americana-steeped weekend. We spent time at the Simi Valley street fair, purchased and consumed some summery brews, grilled hamburgers on our barbeque. To go along with the theme, Levi decided that it would be a good idea to listen to country music on Pandora. (I’m still trying to figure out what possessed him.) And of course, I made a berry pie.

Patsy’s Mixed Berry Freeform Pie is unique for several reasons.

  1. The crust contains several unusual ingredients such as cottage cheese, a good amount of sugar, and baking powder. The texture of the finished pastry is fluffier and stickier than your average crust, and the baked end result is rather cakey and delicious.
  2. It has a gooey cream cheesy layer underneath the berries. What a nice surprise!
  3. It’s freeform (as you might have already ascertained by its name). If you don’t know what a freeform pie is, you’re in luck—I just so happen to have some pictures to show you!
To make a freeform pie, you don’t need a pie pan. Just a foil-lined baking sheet will do. This pastry dough is sticky to the point of annoying, so the foil is a necessary step. The rolled out crust goes on the baking sheet, and then a sweet cream cheese mixture is spread over the center in a circle. Like so.

A very hopeful Bear.

Then the berries get dumped in the middle. I used blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries…the more the berrier! Har har har.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now for the fun part…rolling up the edges. You just fold in one section at a time and the dough forms pleats. I used a spatula for a little extra help.

Bake until the crust is golden brown, top with vanilla ice cream OF COURSE, and share with friends.

Andrew and Marjorie are cute pie models.

Happy almost-summer, all.

Lovin’ Oven

21 Saturday Apr 2012

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I only wish I’d thought of that ridiculously cute title myself. But alas. They thought of it first.

When I’m in New Jersey, one of the places I like to visit is Frenchtown. Everything about it is cute. Even the laundromat, which is called the “launderette”. See? Cute. In Frenchtown, there is an amazing store called Two Buttons, which is owned by Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert. I saw her there one time. EEEP!

On my trip out east this month, my friends Maggie and Jen and I made it to Frenchtown. We shopped at Two Buttons, where you are given free red wine and popcorn and you drool over fantastically beautiful things from all over the world. I bought some fossils of extinct squids from Morocco. It’s really a great time.

The NEW and exciting discovery we made on this day was the new business next door to Two Buttons: Lovin’ Oven, the cutest (in keeping with the theme) bakery/cafe that you ever did see.

I’ve kicked around the idea of starting up a bakery someday. Okay, let’s be serious…maybe a farmer’s market stand. Or…maybe a lemonade stand type deal in the front of my house. I honestly don’t know the first thing about being an entrepreneur, but it’s fun to imagine.

My friends Josh and Amber are the ones who have the most fully-formed vision of my future pie-peddling. My company will be called Hipster Pie; I will have a food truck from which I will sell delicious mini pies faster than Sprinkles can sell cupcakes. Another option in my mind is to wait until Levi and I are of retirement age…his plan is to make his own wine and chocolate, so I figure we’ll just move to the country somewhere and have a little shop. Y’all come visit.  If you have any other ideas, I’d love to hear them, no matter how far-fetched.

But none of you are going to come up with a name as cute as “Lovin’ Oven.” And yes, that’s a dare. I dare you to be cuter than Frenchtown, New Jersey.