Chocolate Pecan Pie

We had a two-part Thanksgiving celebration this year.  The first part was the traditional family run and dinner with my parents in Palmer Lake with delicious food and spectacular weather.  One thing I love about holidays at my parent's house is that my mom has decorations and dinnerware for, literally, every holiday.  It is astounding.  I aspire to decorate like my mom someday!  After dinner, we headed north to Golden for dessert and football at E&S's house - the "kids" celebration if you will.  I was planning to bring this Apple Cider Cream Pie that I recently made (it was delicious - definitely try it as a variation on traditional apple pie), but remembered that Doug was going to be there and I was long overdue to fulfill my promise to him of a homemade pecan.

You see, back in September Doug generously let me raid his plum tree for my Plum Crumble and I promised him a pecan pie in return.  It was time to repay my debt.

This pecan pie recipe comes from my dear friend K who went to law school in the south and is the person to whom I turned for a "classic" pecan pie recipe.  Who knew this pie was so simple?  And delicious?  And looks so beautiful with its concentric circles of pecans?  Doug ate this and said he enjoyed it on Thanksgiving... and then we hosted a trivia night on Friday and he ate the leftover pie so I assume he approved - phew! 

Chocolate Pecan Pie
Recipe from K's friend Lyndsey

Ingredients
1 pie crust (I always use Foolproof Pie Crust from Cook's Illustrated.  If you don't want to take my word for it, Smitten Kitchen has also blogged about how great this crust is.  Otherwise, just use your favorite crust!)
3 large eggs, beaten
1 cup dark brown sugar 
1 cup dark Karo syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter
1 tablespoon bourbon 
1 cup chopped pecans, plus whole pecan halves for decorating
1/4 cup mini dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Whisk together all of the ingredients except the pecans and the chocolate chips.  Stir in 1 cup of generous pecans (a generous cup, even).  Line a pie dish with your crust.  The crust does not need to be blind-baked before you add the filling.  Spread the chocolate chips on the bottom of the pie shell.  Pour the pecan mixture on top of the chocolate chips.  Decorate the top of the pecan mixture in with pecan halves.

Bake the pie at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until top no longer jiggles in the center.  Allow the pie to cool on a cooling rack.  Serve the pie slightly warm or at room temperature.

Roasted Apple Tart

In recent years, I've developed a love-hate relationship with my birthday.  I love celebrations and this year was no exception - Rob planned a birthday surprise with many of my dearest friends at a new brewery that we love (the Denver Beer Co.), one of my favorite people visited from New York and we had a wonderful weekend in Colorado, including a birthday dinner with my parents (my mom and I almost share a birthday) and I heard from my friends and family from all over the world.  Pretty awesome!

On the other hand, I turned 31.  Sigh.

Something else that cheered me up were the unexpected, fabulous gifts I received, including one from M, an amazing friend from college, who sent me a new cookbook that I immediately put to use.  Nothing cures the birthday blues like baking!

Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts is incredibly useful.  Certainly my other cookbooks contain recipes for pies and tarts, but it is great to have a collection of creative approaches to pies and tarts in one place.  So far I have made Apple Pie, a savory Swiss Chard and Goat Cheese Galette and this Roasted Apple Tart.  I love a classic apple pie, but I really wanted to try something different and this certainly is the time of year to experiment with apples.  What sets this tart apart is that it contains a layer of roasted apples topped with thinly-sliced apples.  There isn't cinnamon or nutmeg in this tart, but there is Calvados, or apple brandy.  The apple-brandy-crust combination is dynamite! 

A note about the crust - this is my go-to crust recipe from Cook's Illustrated.  They call it "Foolproof Pie Dough" and it is.  The surprise ingredient is vodka, which helps keep the crust moist, making it easier to roll out and handle.  Don't worry - there is no vodka flavor as the alcohol vaporizes in the oven.

Roasted Apple Tart

Adapted from Martha Stewart's New Pies & Tarts

Crust (this will yield enough dough for two 9" tarts - if you only plan to make one crust, freeze the other half of the dough wrapped tightly in Saran wrap for future use)

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup cold vodka
• 1/4 cup cold water

Filling 

• 1 teaspoon unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 6 tart, firm apples, such as Granny Smith
• 1/4 cup, plus 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons fresh bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/2 teaspoons Calvados or other apple brandy
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Make the crust:
Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.  Let dough soften at room temperature prior to rolling.

Make the filling:

Place the tart pan on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  On a lightly-floured surface, roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  Press the dough into the bottom of the tart pan.  Trim excess dough flush with the rim.  Refrigerate or freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Peel, core, and slice 3 apples into 8 wedges each.  Toss wedges with the flour, 1/4 cup sugar, the bread crumbs, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, the Calvados and the salt.  Spread in an even layer on a rimmed baking sheet and bake 20 minutes.  Toss apples, and continue baking until very soft and caramelized around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes more.  Transfer to a bowl and roughly mash.  Let cool completely.

Peel, core and quarter 1 apple.  Core and quarter (do not peel) the remaining 2 apples and slice all 3 apples very thin.  Toss peeled and unpeeled apple slices separately with remaining 2 teaspoons lemon juice.  Spread the mashed apple mixture into the tart shell.  Fan peeled apple slices on top of mash.  Evenly brush apples with half the melted butter and sprinkle with half the remaining sugar.  Repeat layering with unpeeled apple and remaining butter and sugar.  Bake tart until apples are dark golden brown on edges, about 65 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack and let cool slightly.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata

the finished crostata on a beautiful cutting board made by my dad!

Spring is desperately trying to arrive in Denver. We have tulips and daffodils popping up around town and lilacs blooming along Cherry Creek.  We also had snow on two separate occasions this weekend. Confusing? Yes. What isn't confusing is that spring foods are appearing in local markets, including my beloved rhubarb.

I've posted about Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie before. If you haven't made it, that pie is delicious... and this crostata is an equally tasty and much lighter option thanks to the whole wheat crust and the open face. Plus, the dessert is an awesome shade of pink. Serve this with whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream for a perfect end to a spring or summer meal. The whole wheat crust is an excellent addition to your pastry arsenal - it would pair well with any fruit filling.

Crostata, pre-baking		Time to eat!

Rhubarb and Raspberry Crostata
(adapted from Bon Appétit - May 2011) 
Yield = 8 servings

Ingredients 
Crust 

• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 Tbsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cubed
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp. whole milk

Filling

• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 4 cups 1/2"-thick slices rhubarb (about 1 1/4 lb.)
• 1 6-oz. container fresh raspberries (frozen raspberries will work just fine)
• 2/3 cup sugar
• Whipped cream or vanilla ice cream (for serving)

Combine both flours, sugar, and salt in a processor; blend for 5 seconds. Add butter; pulse until butter is reduced to pea-size pieces. Whisk egg and milk in a small bowl to blend; add to processor and pulse until moist clumps form. Gather dough into a ball; flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic wrap; chill at least 1 1/2 hours. Dough can be made 2 days ahead. Keep chilled.

Dissolve cornstarch in 3 Tbsp. water in a small bowl; set aside. Combine rhubarb, raspberries, and sugar in a large heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and juices are released, about 4 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture and bring to a boil (rhubarb will not be tender and slices will still be intact). Chill until cool, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°. Roll out dough on floured parchment paper to 12" round. Mound filling in center of crust; gently spread out, leaving 1 1/2" border. Gently fold edges of dough over filling, pleating as needed. Slide parchment with crostata onto a large rimmed baking sheet* and bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly, about 45 minutes. Let crostata cool on baking sheet on a rack. Transfer crostata to a platter, cut into wedges, and serve with whipped cream or ice cream.

*I used a large pie dish in lieu of a rimmed baking sheet. In my experience, crostatas have a tendency to bubble over the edge of their crust and make a huge mess (plus, you lose some of the delicious filling). Using a pie dish means the whole thing is contained! 

Strawberry-Rhubarb Birthday Pie

A dear friend turns the big 3-0 this week and we are having a surprise "girls only" celebration this evening before the real party later this week.  I have known B since we were in elementary school and we've been friends through very bad haircuts (both of us having "boyish" cuts at some point - thanks, Mom), countless sports teams and boyfriends, and the ups and downs of life.  The celebration tonight is a surprise and I knew that only B's favorite dessert would suffice.  Thus, I emailed her Dad and was told that B loves strawberry-rhubarb pie.

This was music to my ears.  I LOVE rhubarb and love cooking with it.  My love affair with rhubarb began when we were living in London and I discovered that the Brits have rhubarb yogurt.  Amazing!   When I was unable to find this in the States, I started making my own rhubarb compote to add to plain yogurt.  I typically just slice the rhubarb, add a little bit of sugar and water and let it stew on the stove until the rhubarb is soft.  The recipe I've linked to calls for 1 1/4 cups of sugar -- I prefer my rhubarb tart rather than sweet so I add less sugar initially.  You can always add more sugar later.

Ready for the ovenI digress... thankfully both fresh rhubarb and strawberries were available at the grocery store (otherwise frozen would suffice) and the pie is now baked and waiting to be eaten tonight.   The recipe I used is a combination of a Bon Appétit recipe for Lattice-Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie and the only pie crust recipe that I use from Cook's Illustrated for Foolproof Pie Dough (access to the Cook's Illustrated website requires a subscription, but the recipe has been posted online here).  A side note about this pie crust - I always make it using a food processor and it really is foolproof.  Even better, I often make several batches of dough at a time and freeze them for future use.  It is so easy to whip together a pie when the dough for the crust is already made.

Before you start baking, here are a few tips, most of which relate to improving the presentation of the pie:

• Pie crusts (particularly the edges) are likely to burn in an oven for this long.  For this particular pie, after the first 20 minutes of baking at 400°F, I removed the pie, covered the edges of the crust with aluminum foil to prevent burning and returned the pie to the oven.  If the middle of the pie crust starts to brown too quickly, loosely cover it with foil as well.
• I use a fluted pastry wheel to make the edges of my pie uniform and pretty (in theory).
• Martha Stewart has some amazing tips and ideas for making a pie crust stand out.  I stuck with the lattice-top and fluted edges for this one, but one of my favorite ways to make a pie special is to use a cookie cutter to cut out pieces of the dough which are then layered on top of the pie to create a crust.
• If you make a fruit pie and don't use an open crust (e.g., lattice-top), you may want to use a pie bird (also called a pie vent, pie whistle, pie funnel or pie chimney) to allow air to escape from the pie.  A pie bird is a hollow ceramic device that allows steam to escape from the pie to prevent the pie from boiling over.  Additionally, there are some adorable pie birds available... my husband bought me this one for Christmas and I also have this one from Anthropologie.  I see a collection in the making!
• Another way to add some flair to your pie is with a decorate pie dish.  A sweet friend gave me this one from Anthropologie for Christmas and I received the classic Emile Henry Auberge Pie Dish as a wedding present.  Emile Henry sells beautiful pie dishes in a wide range of colors here.  Sheila's Art shop on Etsy has some lovely ceramic options.

Lattice-Topped Strawberry-Rhubarb Pie (adapted from Bon Appétit and Cook's Illustrated)

Yield - 1 pie that serves 8

For crust

• 2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• 1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
• 1/4 cup cold vodka
• 1/4 cup cold water

For filling

• 3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
• 1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Make crust:
Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl.

Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.  Let dough soften at room temperature prior to rolling.

Make filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Combine all filling ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.  I reduced the amount of sugar from 1/2 to 1/4 cup.  You should add or reduce the sugar depending on how tart you like your pie.

Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter flass pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.

Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.

Transfer pie to rimmed baking sheet (my pie bubbled over and I was thankful for the baking sheet so that I didn't have to clean my oven today).  Bake pie for 20 minutes.  Reduce oven temperature to 375°F.  Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour and 10 minutes.  Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.