Cherry Pielettes

It's odd. I've never liked cherry pie. Perhaps it's more accurate to say that I've never had a cherry pie that I liked. Talking to mom, we came to the conclusion that they're usually too sweet and gooey. Yuck. Nevertheless, when I saw people coming through the checkout with pints of local, organic Hartland cherries last night, I had to have some too. And I bought them with the intention of making little cherry pies.

To avoid the too sweet, too gooey quagmire, I decided to approach my cherry pies as I would an apple pie. I used about half of the amount of sugar called for and omitted the quick-cooking tapioca entirely. Instead, I used a bit of lemon juice, a couple tablespoons of flour, and as I said a fraction of the sugar. These modifications produced the desired effect, the only complaint being that there wasn't quite enough filling. A happy problem and an easy one to fix.

Cherry Pielettes

makes 6 3-inch pies

• 1 recipe pie crust (you'll have extra)
• 1 1/2-2 cups cherries, pitted and quartered
• 1 Tbs. lemon juice
• very scant 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbs. flour

• Make pie dough and refrigerate at least one hour before rolling. Pit and quarter the cherries. Add the lemon juice, sugar, and flour, mix to combine and set aside.
• Preheat oven to 450°F.
• Roll out half the dough, leaving the other half in the fridge, and line 6 3-inch tartlette pans. Refrigerate the lined pans while you roll out the other half of the dough. Fill the pie shells with cherries, leaving behind some of the juices that will have formed. Dot the top of each pie with butter. Cut strips of dough with a fluted pastry wheel from the rolled out dough. Weave a lattice on top of the cherry filling and trim the edges. Brush the tops with an egg/cream wash.
• Bake at 450°F for 7 minutes. Reduce to 350°F and bake an additional 30-35 minutes, until crust is golden and fruit is bubbling.
• Cool in pans on wire racks for 15-20 minutes. When you feel it is possible, turn pies out of pans and return to racks. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Serve with whipped or ice cream.

Fall Pie Primer, Part Four: Pumpkin Pie

It seems fashionable now to have an aversion to pumpkin pie. All the magazines seem to be offering alternatives to it--take such-and-such or blah-and-dah to your Thanksgiving gathering, a refreshing change from pumpkin pie. Honestly, I don't understand. What could possibly be wrong with silky, spiced, pumpkin custard in a flaky butter crust? And don't give me the evaporated milk answer, because you don't have to use it.

I ran several pumpkin pie trials this week and discovered that there is no reason to use evaporated milk in your pumpkin pie filling. You don't even have to spend hours cooking down your own milk in an attempt to duplicate what comes out of the can. You can simply use a combination of milk and cream instead. You wouldn't think of using canned milk in any other custard, so why in this one? For one pie I took the time to heat the milk and temper the eggs and cook them in a double boiler until the mixture coated the back of the spoon et cetera and so forth, but it was really unnecessary. The one with milk and cream and none of the double boiler hoopla set up just as well. So there you go: no more Carnation! Take that, Libby.

Pumpkin Pie

one 9-inch pie

• 1/2 recipe pie crust
• blank
• 2 cups pumpkin purée from 1 medium-large pie pumpkin
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. ginger
• 1/4 tsp. cloves
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream

• Make up the dough, wrap tightly in plastic and refrigerate while you make the filling.
• Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Cut the halves in half and place in a steamer basket. Steam until tender, about 20 minutes. Scoop out the flesh and place in a blender. Blend until smooth. Drain purée in cheesecloth in a strainer for 10-15 minutes to remove some of the water.
• Preheat oven to 425°F.
• Measure out 2 cups of pumpkin purée and return to blender. Add the rest of the ingredients to blender and blend again until smooth.
• Roll out your dough between sheets of waxed paper into about a 12-inch round, or until you judge it will fit in your pie pan with about an inch of overhang. Press the dough into the pan starting with the bottom and working up the sides so there is no air trapped underneath it. Crimp the edges, folding the dough over on itself to get a nice thick edge.
• Blend filling for another second, then pour into pie shell. Do this on a piece of counter close to the oven so you don't have far to go with it.
• Bake at 425°F for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 45 minutes. The center of the pie should still be jiggly when you take it out of the oven. It will set as it cools. A cracked pie is an overcooked pie. Allow to cool completely before serving.

Serve at room temp with whipped cream.

If you're lucky, you'll have some leftover filling. If you do, I recommend pouring it into a small ramekin, placing the ramekin in a dish of hot water and baking it along side the pie. It might be done a bit sooner than the pie so keep an eye on it. Let it cool, whip up a bit of cream for the top, and call it a treat for the cook (or share it--I did).

I hope at least one pumpkin pie appears in your fall pie rotation. Sure, make such-and-such, bake blah-and-dah, but I'm willing to bet the pumpkin pie disappears first.

Fall Pie Primer, Part Three: Mince Pies

There are things I really don't like about this time of year: the shortening days, the chilly weather, closing my windows, wearing layers, to name a few. Mince pies are one of the things that make this time of year okay. The buttery, flaky crust. The sweet, spicy, fruity, gooey filling. The port you have alongside. If the tomatoes of summer need long, hot days, the mince pies of winter need cold, dark weather to be fully enjoyed.

It is a bit early yet to be handing out mince pies, but it is most certainly not too early to put a jar of mincemeat in the fridge. Get it done now (it'll keep, the brandy takes care of that) so you don't have to worry about it later. The recipe I use makes a little over a quart, which is enough for maybe 30 pies. Don't feel you have to follow it to a T. You don't like almonds? Use walnuts or pecans. I cobbled together a batch a couple weeks ago with dates, dried apricots, raisins, currants, figs, walnuts, sugar, spices, the zest and juice of an orange and a little brandy, leaving out the candied citrus peel and suet 'cause I didn't have any. Not a big deal and just as tasty. So put in what you like and don't fret--there's plenty of stress to go around this time of year as it is.

Mince Pies

for about 15 pies

• 1 recipe mincemeat
• 1 recipe pie crust

• Have ready your full reserve of patience, muffin tins, one large and one smaller (the same diameter as the top of a muffin) cookie cutter, a small dish of water, a petal tip from your cake decorating kit and/or a shaped cookie cutter for the tops, a milk or egg wash, a pastry brush, and some coarse sugar. Oh, and your mincemeat and pie dough.
• Remove dough from fridge, cut in half, and put the half you're not working with back in the fridge. Roll out the other half and, using the large round cookie cutter, cut out six circles. Ideally, the circles will fit into the muffin tin with enough sticking out the top to fold over the top. If not (mine didn't) you will have to roll the circles a little bigger until they do. Line muffin tin with dough.
• Fill shells with mincemeat, pressing it in gently yet firmly so the pie will take on the shape of the muffin tin. If you left the suet out of the mincemeat, put a knob of butter on top of the mincemeat before covering it.
• Cut out six smaller circles. While these are still on the work surface, use the petal tip to cut out vent holes in a nice pattern. Cover your pies with their tops and either crimp the top and bottom crusts together as you would for a full-size pie or simply fold the bottom crust over the top, using a little water to seal them. Either way, make sure your pies are well sealed so any bubbling happens through the vent holes and not the sides.
• If you are using a cut out shape for the tops, trim the bottom crust so it has an even edge. Fold the edge of the bottom crust about a cm over the mincemeat then put the shape on top.
• Repeat with remaining dough. Also feel free to gather the scraps, reroll them and make more pies.
• Brush tops with the wash of your choice right before they go in the oven and sprinkle with coarse sugar if you're so inclined. Bake at 375°F for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serve at room temp, preferably with a delicious beverage (wine, port, scotch, tea, coffee, milk).

This might help clarify the process.

You will undoubtedly have mincemeat left over if you make only one recipe of pie crust, but by then you will have run out of patience anyway, so save the mincemeat for another day. The holiday season is long enough that by the time you want to make mince pies again you'll have forgotten what a pain they are to put together. But they're worth it. They're delicious and such fun to give away, particularly here because they're still somewhat of a novelty (that is if you live in the back of beyond, as I do).