Pear Pomegranate Pie

I've had this recipe sitting in my to-bake box since 2009 when it first came out on the NYTimes. I know a few other people had tried it out, but it somehow never made the priority list, especially as I have two other reliable, delicious pear pies under my belt. In a pie frenzy prior to Thanksgiving, however, I wouldn't rest until I had made it. I used Odwalla pomegranate limeade for the filling, and ended up not quite following the instructions as far as the molasses was concerned. In the end, two of the three people I shared it with raved about it, but the Robber (the third, and perhaps most honest) said, "I can't tell if it is supposed to taste sophisticated or if it is a little bit burned." And in the end I have to agree. It wasn't bad. It was interesting. But I think unless it is the wintertime I'll be sticking to my other pear pie recipes for now.

Note: I don't see the point of ever pre-cooking pears for a pie. They soften beautifully and when I attempted to pre-cook them for this pie and for a scone recipe a while back (which I didn't blog because it failed so epically), I found the pears too be way too mushy and to release too much fluid, whereas using them raw produced a tender, less soupy product. If I make this again, I will disregard the instructions to pre-cook, omit the butter, and just stir my pears up in the molasses, sugar and spices. 

Originally from the NYTimes, but my link is from PieLoveYou:

http://pieloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/12/pear-pomegranate-pie-47.html

Ingredients:

For the pomegranate molasses:

4 C. pomegranate juice

1/2 C. sugar

1 T. lemon juice (omit if using Odwalla pomegranate limeade)

For the crust:

1 1/4 C. all-purpose flour

1/4 tsp. salt

10 T. unsalted high-fat butter, chilled and cut into pieces

2-5 T. ice water

For the filling:

4 Bosc pears, peeled and cored

4 Anjou pears, peeled and cored (can also use Bartlett or red)

6 T. pomegranate molasses

3 T. unsalted butter

3 T. tapioca (I used flour)

3/4 C. light brown sugar

1/2 tsp. ground ginger

1/4 tsp. salt

Directions:

For the pomegranate molasses:

1. Place the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved.

2. Reduce the heat to med-low and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 C., about 50 min.

3. Remove from heat and allow to cool in saucepan for 30 min. Transfer to glass jar and cool completely before covering and refrigerating for up to 6 months.

For the crust:

1. Mix together flour and salt. Cut in (or use a food processor to combine) butter until small pieces are formed. Add ice water 1 T. at a time until dough just holds together.

2. Form dough into a ball, wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

For the filling and assembly:

1. Preheat oven to 425F.

2. Slice pears. Bring 3 T. molasses to boil in large skillet over med-high heat. Simmer for approx 2 min until molasses thickens.

3. Arrange half the pears in a single layer in the skillet. Add 1 1/2 T. butter to pears. Cook, turning occasionally, until pears are well caramelized on all sides, about 5 minutes.

4. Scrape pears and molasses into a bowl. Add tapioca and toss to combine. Repeat cooking process with remaining molasses, butter and pears. Add the second batch of pears to the first.

5. Stir in sugar, ginger and salt.

6. Roll out crust. Add pear filling to bottom crust in pie plate and the add top crust either as a complete crust or as a lattice.

7. Place pie on on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet and bake for 15 min.

8. Reduce the heat to 350F and bake for an additional 30-45 minutes until pears are tender and crust is golden brown. Serve after the pie has cooled at least 30 min. 

Bob Andy Pie

Like milk in a pie, and nothing else. I made this just because. It went down like nothing and somehow emotionally, if not physically satisfied. I would say the chances of this getting made again are pretty low given the sheer number of fabulous pie choices, but I wouldn't count it out on a cloudy day.

From Recipe Girl:

http://threemanycooks.com/recipes/sweet-treats/bob-andy-pie-2/

Ingredients:

1 9-inch pie shell, unbaked

3 large eggs

2 C. whole milk

1 C. granulated sugar

2 T. flour

2 tsp. ground cinnamon (prolly used at least three plus some nutmeg)

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Crack eggs in a medium bowl; brush pie shell with a little of the egg whites. 

3.  Whisk eggs until thoroughly mixed; whisk in milk. 

4. Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt in a separate bowl, then whisk into milk mixture.

5. Set pie shell on oven rack and pour filling into shell. Bake until custard has set and crust is golden, about 50 minutes.

6. Cool and serve room temperature or chilled.

Deep Dish Dulce de Leche Apple Pie

This year for the Relief Society Broadcast the Stake provided pie afterwards and, to my surprise, the pie they served was actually wonderfully delicious! It was the apple pie with a kind of caramel matrix/sauce with it and even though it must have been commercially made to feed so many I loved it and it has left me with a hankering to try making something like that myself. I found this recipe in a round about internet way, and when we had dinner with our friends the Perrys this weekend they requested it off of my extensive pie list. And while the pie was delicious, there is no doubt about that, I found the caramel a little lacking and thus am still on the perfect caramel apple pie recipe hunt. Should you know of one, find me the recipe so I can try it. If you don't have one, starting here will never disappoint but only make your mouth very happy.

P.S. I used Granny Smith and Fuji apples for my pie, and it was very sweet and I almost think I should have used straight Granny Smith so there would be more tart contrast of the apples against the sweetness of the caramel.

P.P.S. See below link for how to make the homemade dulce de leche.

From Recipe Girl:

http://www.recipegirl.com/2007/10/04/deep-dish-dulce-de-leche-apple-pie/

Ingredients:

1/2 C. brown sugar
1/3 C. granulated sugar
1/3 C. cornstarch (I used flour)
1/4 tsp. cinnamon (I used 1 T.)
1/4 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Pinch of salt (I also added a pinch of cloves)

7 to 8 cups of peeled, sliced apples
1/2 C. dulce de leche (canned or homemade)
2 T. apple cider (I used cranberry juice)
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Double crust for 9-inch pie
Egg white mixed with 1 teaspoon of water
Coarse sugar for top, optional

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.

2. In a small bowl, mix sugars, cornstarch, spices and salt.

3. In a large bowl, toss together apples, dulce de leche, apple cider and vanilla extract. Add dry ingredients and toss to combine.

4. Roll out pie dough as large as possible keeping it a good thickness. Line deep dish pie pan with crust and let it hang over the sides. Brush with egg white mixture. Add filling and spread out evenly.

5. Roll out second crust and place on top of pie. Crimp edges together in a decorative fashion to seal. Brush with egg white mixture. Cut a few holes in the top crust for venting. Sprinkle with coarse sugar, if using.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, then turn the temperature down to 375F and bake for another 30 minutes.

7. Remove pie from oven and cool on rack for several hours to allow filling to set.

Momofuku Crack Pie

This pie was nominated best pie in New York City in 2009, which is when I ran across it at pieloveyou and thought certainly I will have to make this pie for myself. How could you not make something called a crack pie if you are living in San Francisco? I mean really? Except that it requires that you first make cookies, and then crust, and then pie... and you know that all is too much even if your name is Momofuku. I put it off and put it off and put it off until finally in a bit of residency whatnot stress-relief I needed to be heroic in my pie making and vowed to make it. I only made half the recipe for the cookie and the pie, which I will record here, but the original recipe makes two pies. This pie is actually as delicious as people make it out to be-- I would call it salted caramel in a pie more than a pie-- and worth the effort but very rich. Don't bother whipping cream or getting icecream to serve with it, it packs all the punches on it's own!

Originally printed in the LATimes but comes to me from PieLoveYou:

http://pieloveyou.blogspot.com/2010/05/momofuku-crack-pie-22.html

Ingredients for the cookie:

1/3 C. all-purpose flour

1/16 tsp. baking powder

1/16 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp. salt

1/4 C. softened butter

1/6 C. light brown sugar

1 1/2 T. white sugar

1/2 beaten egg

1/2 C. rolled oats

 

Directions for the cookie:

1. Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

3. In the bowl of a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, or in a large bowl using an electric mixer, beat the butter, brown sugar and sugar until light and fluffy.

4. Whisk the egg into the butter mixture until fully incorporated.

5. Stir in the flour mixture, a little at a time, until fully combined. Stir in the oats until incorporated.

6. Spread the mixture onto a 9-inch-by-13-inch baking sheet and bake until golden brown and set, about 20 minutes. Remove from heat and cool to the touch on a rack. Crumble the cooled cookie to use in the crust.

 

Ingredients for the crust:

1 crumbled cookie recipe

2 T. butter

2 tsp. brown sugar

1/16 tsp. salt

 

Directions for the crust:

1. Combine the crumbled cookie, butter, brown sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse until evenly combined and blended (a little of the mixture clumped between your fingers should hold together). 

2. Press the crust into a 10" pie plate to form an even layer along the bottom and sides. Set the prepared crust aside while you prepare the filling.

Ingredients for the filling:

3/4 C. sugar

1/2 C. light brown sugar

1/8 tsp. salt

1/6 C. milk powder

1/2 C. butter, melted

1/2 C. heavy cream

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

4 egg yolks

 

Directions for filling and pie assembly:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, brown sugar, salt and milk powder. Whisk in the melted butter, then whisk in the heavy cream and vanilla.

3. Gently whisk in the egg yolks, being careful not to add too much air.

4. Scoop the filling into the prepared pie crust gently.

5. Bake the pie at 350F for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 325 degrees and bake until the filling is slightly jiggly and golden brown (similar to a pecan pie), about 10 minutes. Remove the pies and cool on a rack.

6. Refrigerate the cooled pie until well chilled. Serve the pie cold.  

Nutmeg Maple Cream Pie

I know everyone else made this pie a million years ago when it first came out in the New York Times, and I've had it on my list to make for at least two years now, but with a title like "Nutmeg Maple Cream" it's not as compelling as anything chocolate or peach, you know? But this last weekend we had some cream and not much else, and I let the Robber choose a pie off my unmade list, and that all led to us finally making this pie and you know what? It was delicious and so easy to make. Seriously really delicious. Like a perfect flan, in a pie crust. Who knew? I wouldn't make it again in the summer, you know, when there are peaches around, but I would make it in the winter and be glad every time.

Of course I tripled the nutmeg and threw in a splash of cinnamon. So I'll put the increased number here and you can reduce it if you want. I used my mother's pie crust and that was good, but I also think the smoky almond and vanilla wafer crust from the Creamy Peach Tart recipe would also work well with this.

From the NYTimes (why why why aren't they having their Vegetarian Thanksgiving feature this year???)

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/15/dining/155crex.html?_r=0

Ingredients:

¾ C. maple syrup
2¼ C. heavy cream
4 egg yolks
1 whole egg
¼ tsp. salt

1 T. freshly grated nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 pre-baked 9-inch pie crust of your choice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, reduce maple syrup by a quarter, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in cream and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat. 

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks and egg. Whisking constantly, slowly add cream mixture to eggs. Strain mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a cup or bowl with pouring spout. Stir in salt, nutmeg and vanilla.

3. Pour filling into crust and transfer to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until pie is firm to touch but jiggles slightly when moved, about 1 hour. Let cool to room temperature before serving.