Pie Party Success

The Pie Party last Saturday was a hit! The original intent was to have a pizza party for our friends. We had one last year and it was a blast. My husband makes a lot of pizza dough and continuously turns out neapolitan style pizza with all different toppings. From walnut/carmelized onion/blue cheese to a simple margherita - they were all terrific.

When we found this fun graphic for the evite - we decided to turn it into a true 'pie party' and that I would bake pies to go along with the pizza. So, I made an apple, cherry, lemon meringue, and a chocolate cream. I found that fruit pies in the middle of the winter are not ideal. It might be the negative temps that drive the desire for rich and filling food - or it could be the many miles the fruit needs to go to get to this northern post. Either way, the lemon and the chocolate were the winners in my book.

I didn't pull the camera out fast enough to get pictures of the whole pie - so here are some slices for you. Also, the recipe for the lemon meringue - my favorite!

Lemon Meringue Pie

For shell
One single-crust for 9- to 10-inch pie
raw rice or pie weights for weighting shell

For filling
1 cup sugar
5 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk
4 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest

For meringue
4 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 cup sugar

Make shell:On a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin roll out dough into a 13-inch round, (about 1/8 inch thick) and fit into a 9-inch (1-quart) pie plate. Trim edge of dough, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, and crimp edge decoratively. Prick shell in several places with a fork and chill, covered, 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line shell with wax paper and fill with rice or pie weights. Bake shell in middle of oven 10 minutes. Remove paper and rice carefully and bake shell until golden, about 12 minutes more. Cool shell in pie plate on a rack.

Lower oven temperature to 350°F.

Make filling:In a heavy saucepan whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt and gradually whisk in water and milk, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved. In a bowl whisk together egg yolks. Cook milk mixture over moderate heat, whisking, until it comes to a boil. Gradually whisk about 1 cup milk mixture into yolks and whisk yolk mixture into milk mixture. Simmer mixture, whisking, 3 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in butter, lemon juice, and zest until butter is melted. Cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. (prevents skin and keeps heat in.)

Make meringue:In another bowl with an electric mixer beat egg whites with cream of tartar and a pinch of salt until they hold soft peaks. Beat in sugar in a slow stream, beating until meringue just holds stiff peaks.

TIP: Warm up the filling to get it hot right before pouring into the shell. A hot filling will ensure that the bottom of the meringue is properly cooked!

Pour filling into shell and spread meringue on top, covering filling completely, sealing it to pastry. Draw meringue up into peaks and bake pie in middle of oven until meringue is golden, about 15 minutes.

TIP: Overcooking the meringue (waiting for the deep golden brown?) will make it bead. Stick to the 'light golden' and your meringue will hold up even on humid days.

Cookie Tips

What is better than fresh baked cookies? How about fresh baked cookies without the mess?!

The cookie dough rolls made by tollhouse is the idea. Homebaked/homemade still tastes better - so make your own roll!

Tip #1: move your finished cookie dough onto a large piece of parchment paper. Push the dough into a roll with the paper and put the whole roll into the fridge (or even freezer). If storing for more than 1 or 2 days - you can wrap the parchment in another (more airtight) method such as plastic wrap or using a ziplock bag.

Tip #2: always weigh your ingredients!

Check out "compromise with cookies" for a great recipe.

Piece of Cake (favorite things Wednesdays)

I came across this great cake pan/mold that makes a very cute and modern looking cake with the message baked right in! There is still space in the middle for a name if needed - and plenty of room for candles. Now that the holiday cookie season is behind us - it is time to start looking at the cakes!

http://www.delight.com/Happy-Birthday-Cake-Mold

Retro kind of mood

My mood to go retro with my food must be a post-holiday syndrome of sorts. Although, I've always been drawn to tradition in an odd way for someone my age. Current focus is on a "pie party" that we are throwing for some friends. It's really a pizza party - but my husband and I both loved the evite template too much to argue.

The Menu
retro appetizers
- cheese ball with crackers
- ham and pickle rolls
main course
- pizza's rolling right out of the oven all night
dessert
- jello molds (mini-bundts)
- mini pies (for the pie party)

Finfood

I saw this website and immediately prioritized the items at the top of my mental baking to-do list. I ate a lot of karelian rice pasties while I was in Finland ages ago- and have not been very successful in replicating the breakfast treat in any tasty way. So, to the top of the list it goes! I hope I have time to try them all soon. Until then I hope someone can find inspiration within the Finfood site.

http://www.ruokatieto.fi/finfood/ff.nsf/0/256CCF00B0264E9EC225717F00358A5F?opendocument&lng=TasteOfFinland&sh=Kaikille&cat1=Recipes&cat2=Breads%20and%20Baked%20Goods

Finnish Biscuit

Known as Pulla, Cardamom Bread or Finnish Biscuit - it's always rich and tasty with coffee.  My grandmother always bought it from a woman who made it in her home. Makinen, Minnesota is like that - everyone shares their talent, whether it is making Finnish Biscuit or sharing your table for coffee. 

Since Finnish heritage is so important to my grandparents, I wanted to try making my own Finnish Biscuit. I tested 3 different toppings - and found the simplest was my favorite. Below is the recipe from Beatrice Ojakangas's "The Finnish Cookbook."

Pulla

1 pkg yeast

1/2 cup warm water

2 cups milk, scalded and cooled to room temp

1 cup (or less) sugar

1 tsp salt

7-8 cardamom pods seeded (1 tsp ground)

4 eggs beaten 

8-9 cups flour

1/2 cup melted butter

Dissolve the yeast in water. Add milk, sugar, salt cardamon, and enough flour to make a batter (2-3 cups).  Beat the dough until smooth and elastic. Add 3 more cups of flour and beat well. Add the butter. The dough should be smooth and glossy. Add enough of the remaining flour to make a stiff dough.  

Turn out dough onto a floured surface and let rest for 15 minutes. Then knead until smooth and satiny.  Place in a lightly greased bowl and set in a warm place to rise until doubled (about 1 hour.)  Punch down dough, and let rise again until not quite doubled (about 3o minutes). 

Turn out dough unto a floured surface and divide into 3 parts (this is where a kitchen scale comes in handy!)  Divide each part into 3 more - and roll each piece into long rolls. The strands should match each other in length. Braid three strands together - pinching the ends at the beginning and end to keep in place. Place braids onto a parchment-covered cookie sheet and let rest for about 20 minutes. Brush loaves with egg wash and bake in hot oven (400 degrees) for 25-30 minutes.

Don't overbake - it will dry out the loaves! 

Loaf #1: raw sugar (large crystals) sprinkled on after egg wash, before baking.

Loaf #2: egg wash only (personaly favorite)

Loaf #3: egg wash, then brushed with coffee after baking and sprinkled with bakers sugar. 

Auntie Linda's Date Krispie Balls

They only come out at Christmas time- and they always elicit requests for the recipe. They are pretty forgiving - but do require quick hands and constant attention during the cooking of the date mixture. So - set aside a little time and pull in the troops to help you roll the finished product. This is one recipe you'll want to keep.

Auntie Linda's Date Krispie Balls

1 cup butter

2 eggs

2 cups sugar (can mix in some brown sugar with the white)

1 lb dates (chopped)

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp salt

6 cups Rice Krispies

1/2 cup crushed walnuts

topping: crushed walnuts, sweetened coconut, pwd sugar

Melt and allow to cool: 1 cup butter

Beat well: 2 eggs, add 2 cups sugar and 1 lb dates

Add this to the cooled butter and cook mixture over medium heat for 15-20 minutes unitl it thickens. Stir constantly. Mixture will turn amber when getting close to finished.  Remove from heat.  Add vanilla and salt.

IN a large bowl combine 6 cups Rice Krispies/nuts and mix well. Allow to cool for 5 minutes (or less if you can handle it). Grease hands and roll into balls (or use a small scoop if you have it.) Size of walnuts. Roll balls in topping. Place on parchment paper to cool.

Makes 6-7 doz. 

Butter Sandwich Cookies

This last weekend was the perfect time to start the cookie baking! I spent Sunday afternoon with my mother-in-law - she is a pro at sugar cookies with detailed decorations. I made my favorite: Butter Jam Sandwich Cookies. The only sad part is that you are essentially using 2 cookies to make one. So, make sure you roll these really thin - and watch the baking time. If you are able to get them thin enough, your baking time can be as short as 6 minutes. It's not a bad idea to have a test run with only a few cookies on the sheet. Also, I didn't take the time to rechill the dough everytime - and it was OK. If these were the only cookies on a plate - I'd take the time. However, they are going to be on a plate with about 10 other varieties - and they will still hold their own!

Sarah’s Butter Sandwich Cookies
3 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tablespoons whole milk
1 tablespoon grated lemon peel
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Parchment Paper
Assorted decorations (such as powdered sugar, icing, colored sugar crystals, and edible glitter)2/3 cup preserves (such as apricot, seedless raspberry, or seedless blackberry)

Whisk flour and salt in medium bowl to blend well. Using electric mixer, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar in large bowl until fluffy. Beat in milk, lemon peel, and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture and beat until blended. Gather dough into ball; divide in half. Flatten into disks. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 2 hours. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled. Let soften slightly before rolling out.)

Roll out each dough disk between sheets of parchment (or waxed) paper to 14x11-inch rectangle, occasionally lifting parchment paper to smooth out wrinkles. Refrigerate dough on baking sheets, still between sheets of parchment paper, until cold and firm, about 30 minutes. Place 1 dough piece on work surface. Peel off top sheet of parchment paper. Press same parchment paper gently back onto dough. Turn dough over (still between parchment paper sheets). Peel off top sheet of parchment paper and discard.

Using 2 1/4-inch scalloped round cutter and with dough still on parchment paper bottom, cut out cookies. Using 1- to 1 1/4-inch scalloped round cutter, cut out center from half of cookies. Gather dough centers and excess dough around cutouts; shape excess dough into disk and chill. Slide parchment paper with cutouts onto baking sheet and chill. Repeat with remaining dough disk, cutting out rounds, cutting centers from half of rounds to make top rings, and gathering and chilling excess dough. Roll out excess dough between sheets of parchment paper, making more cookie bottoms and top rings. Repeat rolling and cutting until all of dough is used.

Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper. Using metal spatula to lift cutouts from waxed paper, transfer cookie bottoms to 1 prepared sheet and top rings to second sheet, spacing slightly apart (cookies spread very little). Sprinkle some top rings with colored sugar crystals (or leave plain to decorate later). Bake cookies, 1 sheet at a time, until pale golden, about 8 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheets 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to racks; cool completely.

Arrange cookie bottoms on work surface. Spread each with 1 teaspoon preserves. Sift powdered sugar over plain cookie rings or decorate with icing and sugar crystals or edible glitter as desired. Press 1 top ring onto each prepared cookie bottom. (Cookies can be made 3 days ahead. Store airtight between sheets of parchment paper in refrigerator.)