Chocolate Cream Pie (Pie Week Day 5!!!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)



Wow. Chocolate Cream Pie.. I mean, seriously, how can you say no to that?

P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

CHOCOLATE CREAM PIE

Yield: 3 Pies, 9 in. (22 cm) each

• Brown sugar -                                               14 oz.
• Milk -                                                              2 qt.
• Cocoa powder -                                             1 oz.
• Egg yolks -                                    4.8 oz. (8 yolks)
• Cornstarch -                                                   3 oz.
• Bittersweet chocolate (64% cacao) -             14 oz.
• Unsalted butter -                                             4 oz.
• Vanilla extract -                                           1 fl. oz. 
• Flaky or sweet tart dough pie shells, baked - 3 shells
• Crème Chantilly -                                     as needed
• Chocolate Shavings -                               as needed

1. In a heavy saucepan, dissolve 7 ounces (210 grams) of the brown sugar in the milk. Add the cocoa powder and bring to a boil.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar until smooth. Whisk in the cornstarch until smooth.
3. Temper the egg mixture with approximately one-fourth of the boiling milk. Stir the warmed egg mixture back into the remaining milk and return to a boil, whisking constantly.
4. Whisking constantly and vigorously, allow the cream to boil until thick, approximately 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the chocolate, butter and vanilla. Stir until the ingredients are melted and incorporated.
5. Pour the cream into the pie shells and place in a refrigerator.
6. Top the pies with Crème Chantilly once the filling is very cold. Decorate the pies with chocolate shavings. 

*NOTE - As you can see, this recipe calls for pre-baked shells! There are different ways you can blind bake a shell. What I've learned & recommend is to put some saran wrap and fill it with either baking beans, or pennies, or rice... But fill it pretty much all the way, and wrap it in saran wrap like a little baggie. This is a good idea, because after the pie is cooked through you can re-use the 'baggie' for other crusts :) The blind baking is needed like this so the sides of the pie won't fall in during the cooking process! 

LOVE the chocolate shavings on top. Such a nice touch!

If you don't have creme chantilly (basically whipped cream ;D) here's a nifty recipe to make your own!

CRÈME CHANTILLY (CHANTILLY CREAM)

Yield: 2–2½ qt. (2–2½ lt)

• Heavy cream, chilled - 1 qt.
• Powdered sugar - 3 oz.
• Vanilla extract - 0.3 fl. oz. (2 tsp.)

1. Place the cream in a chilled mixing bowl. Using a balloon whisk, whisk the cream until slightly thickened.
2. Add the sugar and vanilla and continue whisking to the desired consistency. The cream should be smooth and light, not grainy. Do not overwhip.
3. Crème Chantilly may be stored in the refrigerator several hours. If the cream begins to soften, gently rewhip as necessary. 

Don't forget to come back tomorrow for our last pie of the week, Lemon Merengue Pie! :)

Pecan Pie (Pie Week Day 4!!!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)


Okay so for day 4 of this series, I bring to youuuu... Pecan pie! Now I know, some people LOVE this, some people don't, but I actually really thought it was pretty yummy :) This recipe is also SUPER easy!! So I hope you guys enjoy it! If you try making it, let me know how it turned out! :)


P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

PECAN PIE

Yield: 4 Pies, 9 in. (22 cm) each

• Eggs -                                         16 oz. (10 eggs)
• Brown sugar -                                            10 oz.
• Unsalted butter, melted  -                             8 oz.
• Vanilla extract -                                     0.5 fl. oz. 
• Salt -                                             0.2 oz. (1 tsp.)
• Maple syrup or dark corn syrup -           16 fl. oz.
• Glucose or light corn syrup -                   16 fl. oz.
• Pecan halves and pieces -                   1 lb. 12 oz.
• Mealy dough pie shells, unbaked -            4 shells

1. Whisk together the eggs, brown sugar and melted butter. Add the vanilla and salt. Whisk in the maple syrup and glucose until well combined.
2. Evenly divide the pecans among the pie shells. Pour the egg-and-syrup mixture evenly over the pecans in each pie shell.
3. Bake at 325°F (160°C) until the center of the pies have set, approximately 35 to 40 minutes. 

The second time I tried (Forgot to take pics!) I chopped all the pecans
except for 8 of them, and put them each in one part of the pie, so that when you
would go & cut the slice, it would have like the one whole piece in the crust. Looked
pretty awesome. Which I'd taken a picture though :(

Come back tomorrow for some Chocolate Cream Pie! :)

Apple Pie (Pie Week Day 3!!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)



YUM! Apple pie! By far my favorite type of pie :) I actually LOVED this recipe & it was gone like in seconds at work ;)

P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

APPLE CRUMB PIE

Yield: 1 Pie, 9 in. (22 cm)

• Basic Pie Dough -                                                 1
• Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored -     2 lb.
• Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored -       1.5 lb.
• Granulated sugar -                                           9 oz.
• Lemon juice -                            0.5 fl. oz. (1 Tbsp.)
• Vanilla extract -                         0.5 fl. oz. (1 Tbsp.)
• Pastry or all-purpose flour -                             1 oz.
• Cinnamon, ground -                  0.3 oz. (1 1/2Tbsp.)
• Unsalted butter, diced fine -                             2 oz.
• Streusel Topping  -                                          7 oz.

1. Roll out 11 ounces (330 grams) of the pie dough into a circle ⅛ inch (3 millimeters) thick and line a 9-inch (22-centimeter) pie pan with the dough. Set aside.
2. Cut the apples into 12 uniform wedges each. Toss the apple wedges in a large bowl with the sugar, lemon juice and vanilla.
3. Sift together the pastry flour and cinnamon. Stir the mixture into the apples.
4. Fill the crust with the apple filling. Dot with the butter. Sprinkle the surface evenly with the Streusel Topping.
5. Bake the pie at 375°F (190°C) until the filling is bubbling and looks like thick honey, approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Just looking at this I'm wishing I had just made another one.
YUM! YUM! YUM! :)

I just so happen to not have the recipe for the streusel topping I used handy :( I know I know, this is not good.. BUT I can share with you the recipe my book had.. My chef didn't like it as much as the other one he taught us, but it's still good :)

STREUSEL TOPPING

Yield: 2 lb. 5.5 oz. (1.125 kg)

• All-purpose flour -                      1 lb.
• Cinnamon, ground -    0.7 oz. (1 tsp.)
• Salt -                          0.2 oz. (1 tsp.)
• Brown sugar -                         5.5 oz.
• Granulated sugar -                      4 oz.
• Whole butter, cold -                 12 oz.

1. Combine the dry ingredients. Cut in the butter until the mixture is coarse and crumbly.
2. Sprinkle on top of muffins or other baking goods prior to baking. Streusel topping will keep for several weeks under refrigeration and may be frozen for longer storage. There is no need to thaw before use. 

Come back tomorrow for some yummy Pecan Pie! :)

The all american... Cherry Pie! :) (Pie Week Day 2!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)

Okay so since today is 4th of July.. What better pie to share than the All-American CHERRY PIE? :)

Hope you guys enjoy, and if you try making it, leave me a comment & let me know how it came out! :)

P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

CHERRY PIE

Yield: 2 Pies, 9 in. (22 cm) each

• Tapioca -                                                                         1.5 oz.
• Salt 0.03 oz. -                                                               (1 pinch)
• Granulated sugar -                                                               1 lb.
• Almond extract -                                           0.08 fl. oz. (½ tsp.)
• Canned pitted cherries, drained, liquid reserved -                 3 lb.
• Mealy dough pie shells, unbaked -                                  2 shells
• Unsalted butter -                                                                1 oz.
• Egg wash -                                                                as needed

1. Stir the tapioca, salt and granulated sugar together. Add the almond extract and cherries.
2. Stir in up to 8 fluid ounces (240 milliliters) of the liquid drained from the cherries, adding enough liquid to moisten the mixture thoroughly.
3. Allow the filling to stand 30 minutes. Then stir gently and place the filling in the unbaked pie shells.
4. Cut the butter into small pieces. Dot the filling with the butter.
5. Place a top crust over the filling; seal and flute the edges. Cut several slits in the dough to allow steam to escape. Brush the top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sanding sugar. (I did not do this. Check picture!!)
6. Place on a preheated sheet pan and bake at 400°F (200°C) 50 to 60 minutes 

Instead of covering it whole, I cut my pie crust into strips & made a lattice top.
Even though it takes a little longer to arrange them on top, I love the look! :) 

Come back tomorrow for some delicious Apple Pie recipe! :)

Blueberry Pie! (Pie Week Day 1!!)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)

Okay so we're going to start this pie week with one of my new favorites!! :) I wasn't even always a big blueberry fan, but lately I've been loving me some blueberries! YUM :) Hope you guys enjoy it, and if you try & make it, let me know in the comments how it turned out!! :)

P.s. - Remember to check out the recipe for the crust here, if you haven't yet!

BLUEBERRY PIE FILLING

Yield: 8 lb. (3.6 kg) - (About 4 pies)

• Canned blueberries, #10 can, unsweetened -      1
• Granulated sugar -                              1 lb. 12 oz.
• Cornstarch -                                              4.5 oz.
• Water -                                                    8 fl. oz.
• Cinnamon, ground -                    0.04 oz. (½ tsp.)
• Lemon juice -                                           1 fl. oz.
• Lemon zest, grated fine -             0.2 oz. (1 Tbsp.)

1. Drain the juice from the canned blueberries, reserving both the fruit and the juice.
2. Measure the juice and, if necessary, add enough water to provide 1 quart (1 liter) of liquid. Bring to a boil, add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Dissolve the cornstarch in 8 fluid ounces (240 milliliters) of water.
4. Add the cornstarch to the boiling juice and return to a boil. Cook until the mixture thickens and clears. Remove from the heat.
5. Add the cinnamon, lemon juice, lemon zest and reserved blueberries. Stir gently to coat the fruit with the glaze.
6. Allow the filling to cool to room temperature, then use it to fill prebaked pie shells or other pastry items. 

*NOTE - As you can see, this recipe calls for pre-baked shells! There are different ways you can blind bake a shell. What I've learned & recommend is to put some saran wrap and fill it with either baking beans, or pennies, or rice... But fill it pretty much all the way, and wrap it in saran wrap like a little baggie. This is a good idea, because after the pie is cooked through you can re-use the 'baggie' for other crusts :) The blind baking is needed like this so the sides of the pie won't fall in during the cooking process! 

I chose to top it with a lattice top & cook for a little longer. That
caused the blueberry filling to cook and kind of overflow it. The lattice
top is NOT needed though, so you can just fill it and not mess it up like me ;)

Come back tomorrow for an all-american Cherry Pie, specially for 4th of July! :)

Life is.. well, complicated. Plus - what's coming this week! :)

A while ago I shared with all of you (or any of you.. Whoever actually reads these lol) that I was making some big changes in my life.. That's still true. I've been crazy busy here in Cali being full time student & full time worker...

To make it worse, I'm in culinary school & we're not allowed to have our nails done! AHH! I've been going crazy. I have actually many times spent hours doing my nails to have to take it out in the morning, just to relax myself. Buuut, it made blogging & such almost impossible.

I'm trying to get back a little, and this week I decided I am going to post a pie-a-day, with a recipe & pic for you guys :)

Since I'm in Baking & Pastry, my passion REALLY is my baking & I figured I could share some of that with you guys since nails lately are kinda hard to keep up with :)

Anyways, today, I'm going to give you the recipe for the pie crust I'll be using in all the next posts!

Hope you enjoy!

Basic Pie Dough

Yield: 2 lb. 10 oz. (1200 g), 3 shells

• Unsalted butter, chilled -                         1 lb.
• Pastry flour -                                  1 lb. 5 oz.
• Buttermilk or water -                          4 fl. oz.
• Salt -                                       0.4 oz. (2 tsp.)
• Granulated sugar -                               0.5 oz.
• Vanilla extract (optional) - 0.5 fl. oz. (1 Tbsp.)

1. Cut the butter into medium dice ⅜ inch (9 millimeters) square. Sift the flour onto a work surface or into a large bowl.
2. Cut the butter into the flour mixture until the desired consistency (flaky or mealy) is reached.
3. Combine the buttermilk, salt, sugar and vanilla in a bowl with a whisk. Gradually add the buttermilk to the flour mixture. Mix gently until the dough holds together. Do not overmix or add too much liquid.
4. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly before using.

To make the border, pinch dough, put a finger in the side,
and pinch it again, one finger apart at a time :)

(Disclaimer: all recipes being shared here were recipes I learned in my baking class. Just sharing my own notes, they're not of my own invention)




Come back later today for the first pie in the series, Blueberry Pie :)

Black & Red :)

Okay, so the morning after my last post, I woke up, looked at the red nails, and hated them. I don't know why but I just wasn't feeling it!

So what did I do? I followed Chloe's Nails tape mani suggestions, and had some fun with it :)

First time I tried this cat nail type look, and while it's not my favorite mani ever, I gotta say I loved it!

The rhinestones I got from ebay! They were super cheap & came in all different colors :)

Have a nice day everyone <3