Sunday Summer Berry Pie

Sometimes a summer night just needs some pie.  Berry pie.  And ice cream, of course.  Ever have one of those weekends, where this...

Is the perfect cap-off to this...?

Boston skyline from Spectacle Island

If you're anything like me, you don't feel like doing much besides sitting on the couch and sipping a glass of wine after a sunny day at the beach, but this pie is simple and totally worth the ten extra minutes on your feet.

This is an awesome berry pie that uses frozen berries and is nice and quick to put together (although I'm sure in-season, fresh berries would make it even better!)  If your summer night needs a little dessert, whip this up and you'll be happy as pie, sweets ;)

As always, let me know what you think if you try this recipe out by posting a note in the comments below.

Triple Berry Pie:
Need:

• Enough pie dough for 2 crusts (for this one, I just bought the Pillsbury pre-made pie crusts in the refrigerated section at the food store.  Note- Pillsbury did not ask me to post them, I just really like their pre-made pie-crust and highly recommend it if you don't feel like rolling out your own!)
• 5 cups frozen mixed berries 
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Do:

1. Mix the frozen berries with sugar, flour and cinnamon in a large bowl.  Let stand for 45 minutes so the berries can thaw out a little bit.  (I did this step, then took a shower and blow-dried my hair which took about 35 minutes and then kept going...perfect timing!)
2. Heat oven to 375 degrees F
3. Line a pie plate with half of the crust (or 1 crust, if you bought the 2-pack)
4. Pour all the berries into the pie crust and spread around making an even layer
5. Place the second crust on top and crimp the edges to seal
6. Cut a few slits in the top crust to let the steam out
7. I brushed the top of my pie with a little milk and put some Sugar in the Raw on top, but you can skip this step if you'd like.
8. Cover the edges of your pie with tin foil so they don't burn
9. Bake at 375 for 50 minutes, then remove the foil from the edges
10. Bake at 375 for an additional 30 minutes - the pie should be bubbly and crust nice and gold at this point.
11. Let the pie cool completely if you want nice and neat slices, or, you can dig right in and enjoy some nice gooey berry pie with a scoop of ice cream on top like I did :)

Step 1:  Berries + Sugar + Flour + Cinnamon

Step 1 cont.  Mix 'em up!

Steps 3 & 4 (after heating the oven) line a pie plate and fill with berry mixture

Steps 5, 6, 7- Put on top crust, crimp edges, brush with milk, sprinkle with sugar and cut steam slits

Fresh out of the oven, hot berry pie

I spy hot pie. <3

Berry Pie

Oh, berry pie, you are so good for the soul.

And, girls' night dinners!

My sweet friend Lindsey baked this strawberry-raspberry pie for our girls night dinner tonight.  Shannon conveniently had some leftover homemade strawberry whipped cream in her fridge to dollop on top.  De-lish.  I don't have Lindsey's secret recipe to share but you can check out some similar sounding recipes here...

Simply Delicious - Strawberry Raspberry Pie

Instructables - Triple Berry Pie

Please note - best friends + delicious pork/green bean/grain/salad dinner + red wine + BERRY PIE = heavenly Wednesday night.  

French Apple Pie

Happy Monday, sweets!  I hope everyone had a nice weekend!  It was beautiful in Massachusetts this weekend, perfect for enjoying fall treats.  My husband and I spent the weekend at my parents' house, helping to replace their driveway.  Well, hubby helped with the driveway, and I helped my mom to feed all the men that were working.  We baked some delicious pumpkin white chocolate blondie bars for dessert Saturday afternoon, and an AMAZING sour dough french toast bake for breakfast Sunday morning.  Unfortunately I was out of the zone and didn't take pictures of either, but you can click above to get the recipes for each.  Both items were a big hit!

One thing I CAN share with you tonight is a recipe for a very unique, very satisfying, very tasty apple pie that should definitely be added to your "must bake" list.  A couple of weeks ago, my buddy Christina of All's Fare Food Blog and I teamed up while our men watched football and baked up this French Apple Pie and a batch of "Everything Fall Cupcakes."  The cupcakes will get their own post from me since that was "my" recipe, but today, I will send you to Christina's blog to read about the pie, which was "hers."

She made the crust, used fresh, local apples, and the recipe called for a custard layer (possibly the element that makes this, a "French" version?) which put this pie over the top.  Christina did a great job for her first apple pie...the proof (for me at least) was when we were all stuffed full of dinner and pie and ice cream, and my husband had room for seconds.  When J takes seconds, especially when everyone else is falling asleep they're so full, you know you've done well.  So kudos to you, Christina, can't wait til we bake again!

Spice 'N Easy Apple Crunch Pie

It is a GORGEOUS fall day in Boston today, perfect for apple picking!  Hubs and I have a big weekend ahead so we're taking advantage of a few free hours at home to clean and relax.  No apple picking for us today, but I thought I would share a great recipe that you apple pickers may enjoy making with your bounty.  Bounty?  I never thought I'd use that word in a sentence, but I just did.  Anyway.

This recipe comes from my husband's grandmother, Memere Rita.  She shared it with me a few weeks ago when I told her I was itching to make something appley.  Memere said this dessert is one that never, ever lasts on the counter more than a day because everyone loves it.

Memere Rita was 100% correct.  The glutton in the story I'm about to share may sound a little gross, but I'm going to share anyway.  When I made the pie, my husband and I ate 3/4 of it in one sitting. We started with one slice each, and then we both kept adding more "slivers" to our plate.  Before we knew it, there was only enough for about 2 normal size pieces left.  We stopped at that, and then ate it for breakfast the next morning.

Moral of the story?  Unless you have super self-control, this dessert may be dangerous for your health :)  Happy fall, sweets!

Spice 'N Easy Apple Crunch Pie
*Heat oven to 375 degrees
*This is a 3-part recipe - read all the way first to figure out how you want to time it or prep.  I just went along part by part, didn't do any prep up front and it turned out great.

Part 1- Crust
Need:
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 c. canola oil
2 tbsp. milk

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Pat into an ungreased 9" pie plate, and flute edges if desired.

Part 2- Filling
Need:
2/3 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1 tsp. cinnamon
4 medium apples, sliced/chopped (I use Cortland for any apple baking projects, because thats what my Grammy, who has the best apple pie in the world, says to use!)
1/2 c. sour cream or plain yogurt

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well.  Spoon into unbaked crust.

Part 3 - Topping
Need:
1/2 c. Rice Crispy cereal
1/3 c. flour
1/3 c. firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ea cinnamon and nutmeg
1/4 c. butter or margarine, softened

Do:
Combine all ingredients and mix well in a small bowl.  Sprinkle over apples.  Bake in 375 degree oven for 40- 45 min.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Banana Galette

My family and friends know me as a chocolate-cake-brownie dessert type gal.  90% of the time I am...nothing makes me happier than chocolate-cake-brownies-one-or-all-three-doesn't-matter-I-LOVE-IT!  Last night was one of the rare days where I was craving dessert of a different type.  I wanted something doughy, sweet, and tart.  Sitting on the couch thinking about what would be the perfect fix, my new Pies & Tarts book by Martha Stewart caught my eye.


Every time I see this book, I smile.  I had mentioned a while back to a coworker that I was looking for it, but had been unsuccessful at finding it in a store.  She happened to see it at Costco a couple weekends ago and picked it up for me!  My new favorite Martha book greeted me at my desk on a Monday morning- best way to start the week ever!

So I'm flipping through Pies & Tarts and thinking man, I don't have the ingredients for any of these things. As I was reading through the freeform section I decided to try a galette, and try putting my own spin on it with fruit I had in the house.  With some strawberries that weren't going to last much longer and bananas that were in the same boat (har har) came my creation- Strawberry Banana Galettes.

Mine looks nothing like Martha's, but it tasted great and definitely hit the spot.  A galette is a simple pate brisee with fruit filling.  It's meant to look a little rough around the edges, and served hot with a nice scoop or two of vanilla ice cream on top, it tastes like a personal open-faced pie. Perfect rainy night treat.

What type of dessert person are you? Chocolatey? Fruity? Or none at all? I noticed I have a fair amount of readers- would love to hear from you!

Strawberry Banana Galettes

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Mini Rhubarb & Raspberry Galette recipe

Need:

-Pate Brisee (make enough for one 9" pie crust, or check out my recipe below)

-All purpose flour for dusting

-1 1/2 cups chopped fresh strawberries

-1 medium chopped banana

-1/8 cup cornstarch

-1 cup granulated sugar

-coarse sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Do: 

- Divide dough evenly into 2 pieces.  Roll out each piece to approximately 7" round, 1/8" thick.  Transfer rounds to a parchment-lined cookie sheet, several inches apart.  If these feel soft at all, REFRIGERATE!  I didn't, and it led to the galette fail that I will show you below.

- In a large bowl, combine strawberries, bananas, cornstarch and sugar.  Toss to coat evenly.

- Split the berry mixture evenly between both rounds.  Leave at least 1" border, I left about 2-3".  Gently fold the edges up around the fruit mixture.  Make sure to leave a hole in the middle.  Gently brush the folds with water and press to connect them.  Refrigerate again about 30 minutes until firm.  Again- I neglected to do this and got a galette fail.  

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and brush cold galettes with water, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.  Bake for 30 minutes- crust should be golden brown.  Reduce heat to 375 for about 15 minutes more, until juices are bubbling.  Martha says to let cool completely.  I say, serve hot (and eat carefully!) with a hefty scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.  Get ready for a warm, ooey gooey delicious single-serve bowl fulla pie.  

If you're dying for dessert and decide to skip the refrigeration parts of this recipe, fear not, you will still have a delicious treat!  It will just expand and maybe not be so pretty...

Don't say I didn't warn ya!

Now, if you need a pate brisee recipe, here's Martha's, reworked by moi to make just enough for 2 mini galettes:

Need: 

1 1/4 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp sugar

1 stick cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces

1/4 cup ice water

Do:

-Whisk together flour, salt and sugar in a large bowl

-Add butter and mix around so all of the butter pieces are coated in flour.

-Quickly cut in butter with a pastry cutter until mixture resembled coarse meal, with larger pieces remaining.

-Drizzle with 1/4 c. ice water and mix together with a fork until mixture starts to come together.  If dough is too dry, add another 1/4 c. ice water.

-Divide dough in half onto two pieces of plastic wrap. Gather each into a ball, wrap loosely in plastic, and then flatten into a disc.

-Refrigerate at least 1 hour for best results.  (I put mine in the freezer for 15 min. and you can see the results above.  Coldness is key!)