Tag Archives: cream

The Sweeny Family Gives Thanks

28 Sunday Jan 2018

Posted by in Nut Pie, travel

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Here is the original Norm and Marie Sweeny family, some years ago, bundled up for the snow and clearly in their element.

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In 2017, the Sweeny family celebrated many milestones including Grandmother’s 90th birthday, Aunt Susan’s 60th birthday, Mom and Dad’s 30th anniversary, Alex and Levi’s 30th birthdays, and Matt’s 21st birthday. We were happy to be able to gather in Illinois to share a Thanksgiving weekend of celebrations together!

The family has grown over the years, as you can see…the photo below is even missing 4.5 grandchildren/great-grandchildren who couldn’t make the trip out from California.

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Although many delicious desserts and savory items were made and consumed as part of the festivities, for the purposes of the blog I will naturally focus on the pie I baked for Thanksgiving: Maria’s Double Crust Walnut Pie. This pie is unique on several accounts, but, like many good things, begins with a bunch of butter.

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Maria must be a special lady, because she has a special pie crust recipe in Pie to be used with this very special and delicious recipe: Maria’s Shortbread Pie Pastry. It contains much more sugar than a typical crust, as well as an egg and lemon zest. In fact, the crust has about the same number of ingredients that the pie filling does. Due to the egg, the crust has a heartier, sturdier texture than average.

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Part of the uniqueness of this pie is that is meant to be baked in a springform pan. However, my aunt did not have a springform pan at her home (nor do I have one at mine–we’re more of a pie than a cake family clearly) so I slightly adapted the plan and used a deep dish pie pan. The recipe gives direction to add “ropes” of dough to the inside of the pan as pictured before pressing the dough flatly up against the sides of the pan. As far as I could tell, this just served to form a thicker pastry around the edges and hold the pie together more concretely. And the crust is such a delicious and important part of this dessert. I think it’s a good move.

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The pie filling is made from walnuts that get boiled with sugar and water and added to honey and cream. Nothing to object to there. The top crust is brushed with an egg glaze, and the final result is drool-inducing.

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If there was such a thing as Baklava Pie, this would be it. (Confusing picture below, that’s pumpkin pie on the plate there, also delicious, just not matching.)

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In this shot here you can see the true decadence of the filling.

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This pie is one of several to date that fall into the category of, “I don’t care if I still have roughly 150 pie recipes left in my cookbook and I probably won’t finish this project until I’m 53, this is a pie I would make again and again because it’s just that good.”

I’m sharing a few more pictures from the Sweeny family Thanksgiving weekend below. Enjoy and have a beautiful week!

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Cousin Alex’s Bacon-Wrapped DuckIMG_5748.jpg

When you turn 90 you get two cakes.IMG_2137.JPG

A little help with the candles!IMG_2134

Unwrapping a birthday birthstone gift. IMG_2153.JPG

Matt, the Jenga Master.IMG_2122

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Grandmother’s Chocolate Angel Pie

22 Wednesday Jun 2016

Posted by in Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie, Meringue Pie, Original Pies

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Goal: Catch up on stories from last summer before embarking on this summer’s adventures. Okay. Go.

Our last visit to Minnesota was in August. We’re going again in exactly one week. I can’t wait. Last August’s trip was wonderful, but bittersweet. My Granddad passed away a year ago, and it makes me sad that I will never fish with him again, or do the Bible readings with him again, or hear his funny songs again. But, as my dad said at the funeral, Granddad believed in a hope that was reasonable: the resurrection. God created us with the ability to reason and created a world full of order and beauty for us to all marvel at. So, “why is it considered incredible among you people if God does raise the dead?” as Paul asks in Acts. We will see Granddad again soon.

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On this particular trip, in the day and half we spent alone together, I asked my Grandmom to sit with me for a couple hours and let me record some of her stories…about growing up on a farm in Vermont, moving to the Midwest as a young woman, becoming a chemist during a time when women simply didn’t do that, being asked on lots of dates (as being practically the only woman at her workplace put her in a good position for!), meeting and marrying my Granddad and learning the Bible together. If you didn’t know this about my grandmother, she still volunteers at a nature center and does pond walks for children. She also spent many years volunteering at the Minnesota Science Museum; seeing the latest exhibit there was always a highlight of my childhood visits (okay, and my adult ones–who are we kidding here?) Of course, she is also a pie-maker extraordinaire. I am so thankful for the legacy that she and Granddad are leaving for our family.

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Once again, we visited Minnesota at the wrong time of year to pick the ever-elusive red currants and make a pie out of them. Nonetheless, there were plenty of pie opportunities. One that I had been meaning to pursue for some time was a legendary recipe I had heard stories about but had never tasted myself; Grandmother’s Chocolate Angel Pie. My cousins and aunts and uncles had long talked about this wondrous concoction and I knew that I wanted…no, needed…to learn how to make it in order to continue climbing the ladder to Pie Mastery. It was the next achievement to unlock.

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Grandmom didn’t have a recipe written down for this pie, per se. She uses elements of a recipe for Chocolate Dream Pie that she got from her roommate’s aunt when she was young Marie Gerdon and had just moved to Michigan from Vermont (the aunt was a high school Home Ec teacher). She also referred to a recipe for an unbaked Chocolate Cream Pie from the Joy of Cooking, as well as a pamphlet from the 60’s entitled “Betty Crocker’s Merry Makings: Fine Foods for Happy Entertaining”.

This pie comes together quickly and is fun to make. Although it requires the use of an oven, the temperature never gets set higher to 300 degrees, so it’s a good summertime choice if you’re trying to avoid heating your house up. The final result is very yummy…a slightly chewy, nut-studded layer of meringue crust filled with light whipped chocolate cream…and I think you should all try it. So much so that I took detailed notes and am writing up the recipe below. After all, pie is meant to be shared.

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Grandmother’s Chocolate Angel Pie

Preheat Oven to 300 degrees F.

For Meringue Pie Shell:

2 egg whites (beat until shiny with electric mixer)

1/4 tsp cream of tartar (add to egg whites while beating)

1/2 tsp vanilla (add to egg whites while beating)

1/2 cup sugar (slowly add and gradually beat in. Turn off beaters.)

1/2 cup pecans (gently fold into egg white mixture)

Use a spatula (we used a spoon and our fingers!) to round the meringue into a pie shell (in a pie dish). It should touch the top rim of the pie dish all the way around. Bake for 55 minutes, making sure it doesn’t get too brown (rotate the dish halfway through baking).

For Chocolate Cream Filling:

1 4 oz. bar of baker’s chocolate (Grandmom uses German’s Chocolate Baking Bar, 48% cacao)

Melt chocolate. If using a microwave, melt on high for 30 seconds, stir, microwave for 30 seconds more, stir, and continue heating and stirring in 10 second increments until the chocolate is completely melted.

Whip 1 cup of whipping/heavy cream and fold in the melted chocolate. Spread chocolate cream in cooled pie shell. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Macadamia Magnificence

10 Sunday Apr 2016

Posted by in Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie, Nut Pie

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Pi Day comes but once a year, but if you’re lucky enough to teach at my school, Pi Day lasts an entire week each March. Good stuff.

Following in the footsteps of many worthy predecessors (such as 2015’s Avocado Cream Cheese and 2014’s Coconut Cream) was a pie I had been excited to make for a long time, due to my great love of the main ingredient: Niel’s Chocolate-Macadamia Nut Cream Pie.

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One time, I was working late and a coworker had recently returned from Hawaii and generously brought eight tins of flavored macadamia nuts back with her. She left them in the kitchen, and I knew others had at least gotten the opportunity to try them that day. So uh after everyone else went home I took it upon myself to polish off the remainder.

Embarrassing.

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Oh, there are almonds in the crust. I love you too, almonds. But you’re not as much of a novelty so I didn’t stuff as many of you in my face while I was baking this pie.

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Nutty pastry crusts (recipe in Ken’s book) are very very delicious things and can be made with a variety of nuts…other pies in my past have called for walnuts, or peanuts. The almond crust here really adds to the level of Specialness of this pie. Only thing to really note about nutty crusts is that they do tend to be much trickier to work with. Don’t be surprised if the crust doesn’t hold together as well as a typical pastry does when you roll it out, and if small cracks form in the bottom as it pre-bakes.

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Case in point. Don’t worry, you’ll never notice-the filling is never runny enough to sneak down into that crack. Plus, the next step is to cover the bottom of the crust with chopped macadamia nuggets anyway.

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The chocolate cream pie filling goes on top of the macs. A layer of plastic wrap smoothed over the top prevents a skin from forming when it’s refrigerated.

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Once the pie is refrigerated for hours, it’s completed with a layer of whipped cream and topped with more marvelous macadamias. Et voilà!

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Like most of Ken’s pies, this one had all the flavor you could ever hope for and a subtle, not sickly, sweetness. This is helpful when you’re trying to eat multiple slices of pie at 10:45 am while also avoiding sugar crashes and stomachaches as much as humanly possible.

There are always so many delicious options.

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This post has been brought to you by circles, the Hawaiian islands, Trader Joe’s, and coral fingernail polish.

Coconut Cream Pi

11 Wednesday Jun 2014

Posted by in Cream Pie

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Pi Day came and went again this year with the usual fanfare it always receives at my school. It’s hard to believe this was my fourth year making a celebratory pie…time sure does fly when you’re having fun.

IMG_2796( Someone made a pi instead of a pie…har har har.)

There were many contributors to the feast of pie and the subsequent sugar-induced coma. Pumpkin, raspberry, lemon meringue, apple, chocolate chip, and so many more varieties were all there for the taking.
IMG_2794The naked pie in the center here was mine. My Coconut Cream Pie, awaiting his topping of toasted coconut whipped cream. An important question to consider at this stage would be: Why have I been making pies for five years and have NEVER made a coconut cream pie before?

Anyone?

Yeah, I have no idea either.

IMG_2795Coconut has always been one of my favorite flavors. As a kid I would always try to convince my mom to buy a coconut from the grocery store (I know, I’m weird. Other kids were probably all like, “Buy me Lucky Charms!!” and I was the nerd asking for a whole coconut…) When I got my way it was always a project because my dad had to smash them with a hammer to get them open. Then I would stash a bunch of the broken pieces away to my room and read through my stack of library books while blissfully mawing away at my coconut chunks.

IMG_2799I bought flaked coconut for the making of this pie. No hammers were involved. A quick note I think is worth making; I NEVER buy sweetened flaked coconut; the straight up stuff is a lot more versatile to have around and I just don’t think the sweetened variety necessary, even when recipes call for it. It’s not like the pie is sugar-free, let’s be honest. No need for the extra sweetener. Maybe that’s just my preference. It’s hard to believe, but I’m not actually a sweet tooth.

IMG_2801Here’s me and my Pi Day Pi. All topped up now and ready to serve to the masses of clamorous children and teachers.

IMG_2803I just love how the toasted coconut looks on top of this guy. So pretty.

IMG_2804Oh look, what’s this? A small pie eater? Don’t know what gave it away, other than the smudgy berry-covered face.

IMG_2805Here are the links to Pi Days past if you’d like to check them out.

Last Year (2013)

The Year Before That (2012)

Thanks for reading. As always.

“So, this was Christmas…

09 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie, Mixed Fruit Pie

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…and what have you done?”

Not kept my blog up to date, that’s for a surety.

Let’s not dwell on the fact that these pies were made at Christmastime. Just ignore Levi’s “Merry Christmas, Ya Filthy Animal” sweater in the picture below, which was supposed to be a selfie with a pie (the pie was in the basket) but instead you can just see Levi and I, so I guess instead of a piefie, I ended up with a spousie.

IMG_2422Also, please forgive the fact that nearly every picture below, taken while putting together the astonishingly beautiful Pear and Fig Pie with a Pine Nut Crust, shows off my glittery holiday manicure.

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This pie is made with dried figs, which I don’t love half so much as the fresh figs that my Great-Uncle Benny somehow grew every summer in his concrete backyard. Still, the combination of fig, pear, honey, and pine nut is really a delight.

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Trader Joe’s should pay me for all the advertising I do for them. HONESTly. IMG_2418 IMG_2419

To make the crust, just roll out a standard crust and then sprinkle the pine nuts over the top and gently press them in, your fantastic fingernails guiding the rolling pin.IMG_2420

When glazed with milk and sugar and baked, this pie truly looks like a masterpiece. Studding the top crust with nuts would be a fun trick for a variety of pies…just keep an eye out for burning and be prepared to tent the pie with aluminum foil for part of the baking if needed.

So here’s something that happens often. (As in, every time I make more than one pie at a time.) I do a swell job documenting the process of whatever pie I start first. Then, by the time I remember that I still have a whole other pie to make and it’s probably past my bedtime already, I don’t bother with all the pictures and just take one token one of the finished product. I have way fewer pictures of this Chocolate Cream Pie with Cinnamon Meringue. 

Point to ponder: Is that what’s going to happen when I have two children…?

IMG_2421Let it be known; this was MY FIRST EVER MERINGUE. I kid you not. I’ve been making new pies for going on five years now and I’ve never made a stinkin’ meringue before. And look how purty it turned out. I’m such a proud mama.

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A Beautiful Mess

16 Thursday Jan 2014

Posted by in Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie

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Okay…if Green Tomato Pie didn’t get you too excited…from the poll results it looked like about 30% of you had serious doubts…maybe this one will.

The Hammett House Famous German Chocolate Pie. I’ve never been to the Hammett House Restaurant (namely because it is in Oklahoma) but I get good feelings about it. Really good feelings.

First let’s just take a look at the way the coconut and pecans are being folded into the chocolate cream filling here…it’s a thing of beauty. Literally, this picture makes me drool.
IMG_1803As if the homemade graham cracker crust and luscious chocolately filling weren’t enough, the pie gets topped with chocolate whipped cream with more pecans and coconut mixed in. It’s almost too good to be true.

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IMG_1805The end result just looks like a mess. A beautiful mess. It’s also MONSTROUS in size. The hugest pie you will probably ever encounter.

It tastes even better than it looks.

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We got to share this pie with our friends Jenny and Tyler, who are not only lovely people but some of our favorite musicians. Check them out here if you haven’t listened to their music before. IMG_1809You may remember that J&T did a house show at our place back in March, so we felt pretty lucky to get them back for another one only about half a year later. I think it has something to do with the pies…

IMG_1814Thanks again, guys. It was a beautiful night. But no more pies unless you bring baby Jane next time. 😉

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Summertime and the bakin’ is easy

15 Wednesday Aug 2012

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Today I baked a Sweet Summer Corn Pie. I already made two of them last month, but I couldn’t find the picture I’d taken of the finished product (or maybe I never saved that picture at all?). And I got three ears of fresh sweet corn in my CSA box yesterday. And…oh yeah, I don’t work during the summer. Oh well. There was just nothing for it but to make another one. In case you’re curious what they taste like, they’re very creamy…the texture almost reminded me of flan…but some of the corn kernels are left whole. Definitely yummy. I wouldn’t use anything but the freshest summer stuff, though.

My new puppy Obi helpfully tried to eat the husks of the corn as I shucked it. 

The following pictures are all from July. My little cousin Ava helped…and a very good helper she was! She’s only three, born a couple of days before my wedding, but she’s already an accomplished baker. 

Once on this Island…

18 Monday Jun 2012

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…two very, very very mysterious pies were brought forth.

I facebooked: No one will ever guess the kinds of pie I am making right now.

Some of the guesses in response: Cow, dandelion, chicken, round, delicious, maple bacon, pizza, black bean and plantain, pancetta spearmint baby formula cream…

Creative thinkers, the lot of you.

Because I have friends who are good sports, and because I wanted to prolong the fun, I made a bunch of them come over to try both pies and keep making guesses.

Some of the guesses made: Turnip, sweet potato, zucchini, pumpkin, orange, Froot Loop…

After many attempts, the secret ingredients came to light.

Mystery Pie #1= Carrot Custard Pie

Light, subtle, surprisingly hard to identify the flavor.

Mystery Pie #2= Spiced Parsnip Pie

Very much like pumpkin pie, except for the lemony flavor (which led to the slight Froot Loop aftertaste).

Now on to rave about my new little island! Really it isn’t so much an island as it is a kitchen cart (Forhoja, from IKEA.) But whatever you call it, it definitely gives me a lot more room for pie-crust-rolling, and pie-things-storing.

When you only have two drawers in your kitchen, you really appreciate an extra two more. Here is my drawer of pie-making goodies! Pie weights (aka dry beans), crust protectors, measuring spoons and cups all stored together in one ultra-convenient location.

(Thanks, Wendy, for the totally adorable measuring spoons!)

And thanks everyone, for humoring me when I play these silly games of suspense.

The Love of my Life

30 Wednesday May 2012

Posted by in Berry Pie, Chocolate Pie, Cream Pie, Nut Pie

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….is not pie. It is my husband, Levi.

We’ve been married for three years today. Three whole years! It’s both hard and easy to believe.

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If you’ve read the “Why Pie?” section of my blog, you already know that I received my now well-worn Pie cookbook as a wedding present. What you may not know is that Levi and I opted have pies instead of a wedding cake…much to the initial chagrin of my very traditional Italian relatives. (Although I happened to look through my Nana’s wedding album shortly after our wedding and discovered that she and Pop-Pop had a big heaping platter of Italian cookies instead of cake at their wedding. Needless to say, I drew her attention to this incriminating fact!)

Our reasoning for this decision went something like this:

1. We really like pie.

2. We don’t like wedding cake.

3. Wedding pie it is.

A decision that was less easy to make was, “What KIND of pie should we have?” So we had five kinds. Pecan, Berry Medley, Key Lime, Chocolate Chiffon, and Coconut Cream. Something for everyone. (If you were in attendance, what kind of pie did you choose? If you weren’t, which one would you pick today, three years later?)

Levi and I sampled every pie, I’m not ashamed to say. Each was as wonderful as the last, just as the years of our marriage have been. Three years later, I’d still pick you, Levi. You’re my favorite, favorite one, my very best friend, the love of my life. Happy Anniversary.

(Professional photographs taken by the incredible Elisabeth Millay. Her blog is super gush-worthy.)

Butterscotch Banana Cream Pi

10 Tuesday Apr 2012

Posted by in Cream Pie

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I am fortunate enough to teach at a school where pi is not merely celebrated for a day (3/14) but an entire week…and pi’s homonym pie gets a fair share of the party as well. Pi day? Are we still talking about that? Wasn’t that a month ago? Ah yes…what an astute observer you are! Well done. This post, like the one before it, is a relic from the past.

A wall of pi puns (although, let’s be honest, some of the youngest ones didn’t really get the concept and made “Camouflage Pi” and “Rainbow Pi” instead of, say, “Cutie Pi.” Ah well.)

On Thursday of Pi Week, families, students, and teachers bring in pie of all different types. We eat pie at recess and lunch and then the teachers have stomachaches AND classes of hyped-up children to teach for the afternoon. But we wouldn’t have it any other way.

For this particular occasion, my own contribution was a Butterscotch Banana Cream Pie. The butterscotch flavor simply comes from using dark brown sugar instead of white when making the cream filling. Speaking of cream fillings, I have made quite a few creamy fillings over the stovetop at this point (whisk, whisk, whisk) and I still get a massive feeling of glee every time the consistency magically transforms, within seconds, from liquid to custard.

Here is the pie in a stage of assembly (and yes, that is a banana peel pi sign behind it, never fear.) Ken likes to put the bananas on top of the filling instead of inside the filling, as he says, “the bananas start to weep under the hot filling, leaving you with a weepy pie.” Who wants a weepy pie?

This pie has a vanilla wafer crumb crust. Since I practically have an anxiety attack every time I have to enter a store that isn’t called Trader Joe’s (jokes) I used the TJ’s Ultimate Vanilla Wafers. It’s not the cheapest way to make this crust, but I would definitely recommend…and then you get to sprinkle some more cookies on top once the whipped cream goes on there…oh yeah. It’s what you want.

One of my teacher-friends (who had probably already sampled about six other pies) deemed this pie “refreshing,” a term that I must say I have never before heard applied to a banana cream pie. I think that she was on to something though. The pies in Ken’s cookbook generally run low on the sugar…he doesn’t oversweeten. I appreciate that. A little less sugar sometimes means a lot more enjoyable.