Brown Butter Raspberry Tart

I went home to my mom’s in New Canaan, CT for the long holiday weekend. Right after she picked us (me, my brother and our friend Monica) up from the train we went directly to the local market. I decided I’d bake whatever looked the freshest, and tasted the best.  Raspberries were it and so I attempted this Brown Butter tart.

Brown Butter Raspberry Tart

Ingredients

Crust

• 250 Grahams AP Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 135 grahams very cold butter, cut into small piece
• 1 large egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of cold water

Filling

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• Pinch of salt
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, diced
• 2 6-ounce containers fresh raspberries

Instructions

Crust

1. Sift flour, sugar, and salt onto work surface
2. Add the cubbed butter to the flour mixture and cut into flour with fork (or pastry scraper) until the butter is the size of little peas.
3. Form a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the water-egg mixture. Working until just incorporated and the dough holds together. (You may need to add more ice water). Working any piece into the dough with your palm.
4. Gather the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic
5. Refrigerate the dough an hour or up to 24 hours
6. Flour a work surface, roll out the dough to a 10 inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick
7. Lightly wrap over rolling pin and place in pie dish
8. press into dish and cut excess dough
9. Place a piece of parchment paper over the top and add pie weights
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, remove pie weights and let cool

Filling

1. Whisk sugar, eggs, and salt in medium bowl to blend.
2. Add flour and vanilla and whisk until smooth.
3. Cook butter in heavy small saucepan over medium heat until deep nutty brown, stirring often, this will take about 6 minutes.
4. Immediately pour browned butter into glass measuring cup.
5. Gradually whisk browned butter into wet mixture until well blended.
6. Place raspberries close together in  circles in the bottom of cooled crust. 
7. Place tart on rimmed baking sheet.
8. Carefully pour browned butter mixture evenly over berries.
9.  Bake tart until filling is puffed and golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes.
10. Cool tart completely in pan on rack. (I found this tasted better on day 2.)

Salt & Pepper Pie for Pie in the Park

I participated in a Kickstarter campaign for Pie in the Park which took place at Smorgusberg food festival. It was really well produced and fun to meet some other bakers. We were in the kickstarter booth at the festival and there was such a nice bunch of bakers. It was $1 to bring a pie, and we all got 3 slices of pie. It was $10 for others to eat 3 slices.  They also gave us personalized recipe cards. It was a really watching people look at my crazy concoction. People were really curious about my pie but before we cut into them my pie completely melted. The chocolate ganache in the sun became a mushy mess. Kind of tragic, kind of comedic but my friend Amy came and I we enjoyed all the amazing food vendors at the festival.

I made the pie again this weekend and it was a huge success but its not meant for the outdoors in the summer.

Salt and Pepper Pie

Crust: Peppered Pate Brisse
Ingredients:

• 250 Grahams AP Flour
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 1/2  teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon sugar
• 135 grahams very cold butter, cut into small piece
• 1 large egg mixed with 1 teaspoon of cold water

Filing Layer 1 : Salted Caramel w. Banana
Ingredients:

• 1 cup of sugar
• 1/2 cup of water
• 6 Tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 Bananas Mashed
• 2.5 teaspoons of salt (add more to taste)

Filling Layer 2: Peppered Chocolate Ganache
Ingredients:

• 2.5  cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 14 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 Tsp Ground Black Pepper

Topping: Sliced Bananas
Ingredients:

• 4 Large Bananas
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• Pinch of Salt

Instructions:

Peppered Pate Brisee
(prepares two crusts)

1. Sift flour, sugar, pepper and salt onto work surface
2. Add the cubbed butter to the flour mixture and cut into flour with fork (or pastry scraper) until the butter is the size of little peas.
3. Form a well in the center of the mixture and pour in the water-egg mixture. Working until just incorporated and the dough holds together. (You may need to add more ice water). Working any piece into the dough with your palm.
4. Gather the dough into a disk and wrap in plastic
5. Refrigerate the dough an hour or up to 24 hours
6. Flour a work surface, roll out the dough to a 10 inch circle that’s about 1/8 inch thick
7. Lightly wrap over rolling pin and place in pie dish
8. press into dish and cut excess dough
9. Place a piece of parchment paper over the top and add pie weights
10. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, remove pie weights and bake an additional 15 minutes or until golden brown, and completely cooked.

Salted Banana Carmel

1. Prepare all your ingredients, and be ready to move fast as caramel is a quick process.
2. Add sugar with a 1/2 cup of water into a large heavy bottom sauce pan. Stir
3. When comes to a boil stop stirring and let boil until all water evaporates and the sugar turns a dark amber color
4. Add in butter, and stir.
5. Once melted remove from heat, count to 5 and add in cream. Whisk till incorporated
6. Add in mashed bananas and salt, continue to whisk until smooth
7. Pour into a glass bowl and let it cool to room temperature
8. spread evenly across the bottom of baked and cooled pie crust.  Reserve extra and store in glass mason jar for upto two weeks.

Peppered Chocolate Ganache

1. Place chocolate chips and butter in large mixing bowl. Set aside.
2. Bring heavy cream and milk to a boil in a heavy saucepan.
3. Add pepper and steep (at slight simmer) for 10 minutes or till desired peppered taste. Remember you want to take it double as strong as you want the final flavor.
4.  Pour over chocolate and let stand one minute.
5. Whisk until smooth.
6. Carefully pour warm ganache into prepared pie crust, filling to 3/4 full. Any leftover ganache, reserve and can be used as a sauce over ice cream.
7. Transfer to refrigerator until set, about 30 minutes.

Traditional Sweet Cherry Pie

For a memorial day get together I ran to whole foods to pick up some last minute ingredients and I saw bing cherries that were perfectly in season. They just looked so good I wanted to keep as much of the natural flavor as possible. I had originally prepared to do a lattice but then I was just inspired, and my friend Amy had a star cookie cutter and so it happendl

I saw this recipe on my favorite, Smitten Kitchen and made just a few very small changes.

Ingredients:

• I used this dough recipe from SK
• 4 cups pitted fresh cherries
• 4 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2/3  cup brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 2 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small bits
• 1 egg, beaten with 2 tablespoons water
• Coarse sugar, for decoration

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Stir together the cherries, cornstarch, sugar, salt, lemon and almond extract gently together in a large bowl.
3. Roll out half of chilled dough on a floured work surface to 13-inch round. Gently place it in 9-inch pie pan, trim edges evenly around the pie dish
4. Spread filling into pie crust, discarding the extra liquid in the bowl. Place bits of cold butter in the filling. 
5. Roll out the remaining dough leaving about double as thick as the bottom crust and cut out stars with cookie cutter.  Place around the top ensuring all the edges of the stars are touching each other. 
6. Brush the egg wash over over pie crust, then sprinkle with coarse sugar
7. Bake the pie in the middle of the oven for 25 minutes.
8. Reduce the temperature to 350°F. and bake the pie for another 25 to 30 minutes more, or until the crust is golden.
9. Let the pie cool on a rack.

The Experimental Lemon Meringue Pie with Chocolate Bacon Cookie Crust

Yes. I put bacon in the crust. It was an experiment and I’m still on the fence about it. My brother REALLY didn’t like it but the smokey/salty with the sweet. When I was making it my friend told me a story about how he LOVES lemon meringue filling. As a kid his parents would make it and he would sneak in and eat up all the filling leaving the perfect meringue in tact. His Dad would go to cut into the pie and would find a lemon-less meringue.

Here’s the recipe I made:

Crust

• *15 Chocolate Spice Cookies (I used this recipe)
• *1/4 cup melted butter
• *4 oz Crispy bacon

Filling

• *4 Eggs (separated)
• *1/3 Cup Cornstarch
• *11/2 Cup Water
• *1 1/3 cup Sugar
• *1/4 Teaspoon Salt
• *3 tbsp Butter
• *1/2 cup lemon juice
• *1 Table spoon Lemon Zest

Meringue

• *4 egg whites (White of the 4 eggs above)
• *1 pinch of cream of tartar
• *2 tablespoons of sugar

Crust Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350

1. 1. Combine crushed cookies and melted butter in a food processor.
2. 2.  Add in Bacon
3. 3. Press into 9 inch pie dish
4. 4. Bake on 350 for 10 minutes - Set aside

Filling:

Preheat oven to 375

1. 1. Whisk Yolks in a medium bowl and set aside
2. 2. In a saucepan combine cornstarch, water, sugar, salt, whisk stirring to bring it to a boil for 1 minute
3. 3. Remove from heat and gradually add to egg yolk until half of the mixture is added.
4. 4. Return to saucepan on low heat for one minute
5. 5. Return from heat and stir in butter, lemon, lemon zest add to shell while filling is still hot

Meringue:

1. 1. Whisk egg whites and pinch of cream of tartar 
2. 2. When peaks form add two tablespoons of Sugar
3. 3. Add on top of Lemon Filling
4. 4. Bake for 30 minutes

Dark Chocolate Blackberry Pie with a Pretzel Cookie Crust - For my First Pie Contesthttp://plancast.com/p/3d2m/fourth-annual-brooklyn-pie-contest

It may be the Fourth Annual Brooklyn Pie Contest but its was my first time ever entering  baked goods into anything semi-professional or competitive. I had no idea what to expect and I’m kind of glad I didn’t or I would have been even more nervous.

My friend Marion and I decided to spend the day baking a bunch of pies at our friend’s amazing kitchen and then decided we’d choose our favorite one to enter. Well, if I were to do it again and invent a recipe I might do a test pie and then perfect it to enter.

 There was really a huge crowd, which made it quite intimidating. Only the first 50 pies were accepted into the competition and we stood in the freezing cold for 30 minutes for the opportunity. I’m number 38 if you were wondering. I had no idea what to expect and there were some amazing, like really amazing pies.

The judges were  Renato Polliafito and Eric Wolitsky from Baked NYC, Emily Elsen from Four & Twenty Blackbirds, and Alison Roman from Momofuku Milk Bar. They went and tasted every single pie and rated them. I’m not sure what the criteria was, which I definitely also want to find out. The whole night benefited Growing Chefs and they are very integrated into the Brooklyn baking/cooking community. It took them 4 hours to taste the 50 pies and 45 minutes to announce the winners. We started baking at 11 AM, so by 9 PM, we were VERY exhausted.

And now for my recipe:

Dark Chocolate Blackberry Pie with a Pretzel Cookie Crust.

Crust:

1. *1 Stick Unsalted Butter
2. *1 1/2 cups of coarsely crushed pretzels
3. *3/4 Cups confectioners sugar
4. *1/2 cup all purpose flour
5. *1 Large Egg
6. *2 Ounces of Bittersweet Chocolate

Filling:

1. *12 Ounces Bittersweet Chocolate
2. *1 Cup Heavy Cream
3. *2 Large Eggs
4. *1 Egg
5. *1/4 cup sugar
6. *2 tbsp Flour
   
7. *2 cups of blackberry

Instructions Crust:

1. 1. In a standing mixer w. paddle add butter, 3/4 cups pretzel and sugar until creamy
2. 2. Beat in flour and egg, and then add remaining pretzel
3. 3. Flatten dough between two pieces of plastic wrap for 30 minutes or until chilled
4. 4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
5. 5. Roll dough between plastic until 12 inches
6. 6. Remove one plastic wrap and drop into tart dish
7. 7. Line with parchment paper and pie weights for 30 minutes
8. 8. Remove parchment paper and cover edges with foil if necessary to keep from getting too brown
9. 9. Brush bottom of tart with melted dark chocolate

Instructions for Filling:

1. 1. Combine milk and chocolate in sauce pan over medium heat and whisk.
2. 2. Remove from heat
3. 3. Mix egg, sugar and flour in a bowl
4. 4. Add in chocolate to the mixture and mix until combined
5. 5. Line the crust with one cup of Blackberries
6. 6. Pour in filling
7. 7. Decorate the top of the tart with remaining Blackberries
8. 8. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until firm

I had trouble with the dough and felt that it needed more flour. I’m going to work on this crust and see if I can find a better solution. It was really sticky and I didn’t need the pie weights but then it was hard to cut. I’d definitely be open to suggestions as I try this crust again.