Chocolate Pie

This pie was an experiment for Thanksgiving. I have never liked the idea of chocolate pie being just a box of cooked chocolate pudding poured into a pie crust. It just doesn't sound appealing to me at all. So when my husband requested a chocolate pie for Thanksgiving dessert, I decided to try using chocolate custard instead. It turned out AMAZING. If you are a fan of chocolate pie, this recipe is a must! It has 3 layers of chocolate, and it is silky smooth and divine!

Chocolate Pie

-3/4 C whole milk
-3/4 C  heavy cream
-3 Tbsp corn starch
-4 egg yolks
-2 tsp vanilla
-2 C milk chocolate chocolate chips
-1/4 C heavy cream
-Cooked pie shell (AMAZING recipe for pie dough found HERE)

-whisk egg yolks together with vanilla in a bowl and set aside.
-in a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and add the 1/4 C of heavy cream and mix until smooth. Set aside.
--in a saucepan, combine milk, cream, and corn starch, whisking until smooth.
-over medium heat, stir constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Cook 3-5 minutes stirring constantly until the starch has cooked. (take a taste if you are unsure if the mixture isn't thoroughly cooked)
-remove from heat and add a little of the milk/cornstarch mixture to the egg yolks and whisk. Add a little more and whisk again. Keep whisking in the thickened mixture to the eggs a little at a time until it has all been mixed together.
-Return everything to the saucepan and cook over medium heat for about 2-3 minutes, do not let the mixture boil.
-Remove from heat and whisk in the chocolate/cream mixture. Mix until smooth.
-Pour into pie shell and let set until it cools.

-1/2 C milk chocolate chocolate chips
-1/2 C heavy cream

-Melt chocolate with cream and then spread about HALF of the ganache over top of the pie.

-1/2 C heavy whipping cream
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tbsp sugar
-remaining ganache

-Whisk cream with vanilla and sugar in a mixer on high until whipped cream forms soft peaks. Add ganache and mix thoroughly until combined.
-Spread or pipe over the ganache layer of the pie.

-optional, drizzle melted chocolate over whipped cream layer.

refrigerate 1-2 hours 

Back to Blogging

It's been a few months since I've regularly blogged. Autumn is a busy time at our house, playing outside in the awesome weather, making stuff to fill the freezer, and we were also able spent a few weeks in Canada, so it's just been a bit too busy for me to blog lately. I've been catching up and recently posted a few recipes today, and hope to spit out one or two great recipes a week for everyone to try and enjoy. We'll see how I do with the holidays approaching...so don't hold me to it too tight! I'll do the best I can. In the meantime, feel free to try a new recipe! And if you have any recipes that you enjoy and would love to share on my blog, email me at cakesncandies13@gmail.com so we can share the greatness that comes of cooking and baking with everyone!

Award Winning Apple Pie

So I decided that this year I would enter my tasty apple pie into my county fairs' Best Apple Pie contest. The only problem: the apples that I use for my apple pie were not quite in season yet. No problem! I had made about 8 apple pies last fall and froze them all, to be able to pull out over the year whenever I felt like I needed a fresh apple pie. So with my very last pie from last year (that had been a little squished from something in the freezer) I entered it into the fair, laughing at myself and thinking that there was no way that funny looking thing was going to win anything. Well, I was more than surprised when I looked at the case displaying apple pies to find that my year old, somewhat smashed down apple pie had won 2nd place over all! WOW! If only I had made it fresh, imagine the possibilities! Either way, the point of my story is that this pie is absolutely delicious, will beat out any pie made with canned pie filling, is super easy to make, and freezes extraordinarily well.

BEST Apple Pie EVER

-6 to 8 medium MACINTOSH apples (the kind of apples is EXTREMELY important)
-1/2 C white sugar
-1/4 C flour
-1 Tbsp cinnamon (more or less depending on your personal preference)
-Pie dough, enough for a bottom and top of an 9 in pie pan. (Best recipe found HERE)

-Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. (Thin and uniformly sliced apples will cook through and will soften better than larger pieces)
-Mix together the flour, sugar and cinnamon.
-Mix the flour mixture with the apples until it is evenly coated. Okay, so here is the tricky part, I always make a huge batch of this stuff and haven't a clue how much I actually use on each pie because I usually do it by taste, as the juiciness and sweetness varies from apple to apple. So start with just a little bit of the flour mixture and keep adding it until it tastes good to you.
-Spoon the apple mixture into a pie pan lined with pie dough. (If you like a thicker pie crust, it is better to have the thicker crust on top, and a thinner crust on the bottom, because bottom crusts tend to get soggy.)
-dip your finger or a pastry brush into a little bowl of milk and gently spread the milk over the edge of the pie pan.
-Roll out the pie dough and place it over the top of the pie, fluting the edges together. Using your pastry brush, gently brush milk over the top of the pie crust and sprinkle a little white sugar over the whole pie.
-Cut 3 to 4 slits into the top of the pie to help release steam while the pie cooks.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until the pie turns golden. 

Pie Crust 2

Pie Crust 1 is my favorite pie dough recipe ever, but this is my go-to crust if I want an instant pie crust. Although it turns out better if chilled for awhile, it still will work if used right away. I usually use this recipe when making pot pie. Another recipe for pie dough that I will highly recommend would be the one on the Tenderflake pure lard box which I'm sure you can find somewhere at tenderflake.ca  or HERE.

 Makes 1 9inch pie crust

Pie Crust

-1 1/4 C flour
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp baking powder
-1/4 C lard (or shortening)
-1/4 C cold butter
-1/4 C ice water

-Sift flour, salt and baking powder together in a bowl
-cut in the lard (or shortening) and butter with a pastry cutter until the fat is roughly pea size
-add the cold water and gently mix, kneading only a handful of times until a dough is form.
-chill until ready to use. 
-gently flour a surface and roll out the dough, flipping and flouring occasionally, so the dough doesn't  stick.
-fold in half or wrap around the rolling pin to pick up the dough without tearing and place it in a pie pan.
-try not to stretch the dough.
-if making just one layer of crust, use a fork and prick holes throughout the crust so air pockets don't form. You can also flute the edges or just use a fork to make it look pretty.
-chill the crust fore 15-20 minutes before baking (to lessen shrinkage)
-Bake crust at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. 

Pie Crust 1

This is the best pie crust I've ever had the privilege of making. This recipe comes from my Grandma, so I don't claim it as my own invention, but I must brag that this recipe has helped me create an award winning pie at my local county fair.
It's super flaky, tasty, and I have found it easier to work with than the other pie dough recipes I have previously worked with in my baking class. This recipe can make about 3 double layered pies (depending on crust thickness). This dough is also great to freeze into individual balls to pull out whenever the mood strikes you to make a pie.



Award winning Pie Crust

-1 lb Lard (preferably Tenderflake)
-1 C boiling water
-1 tsp salt
-4 heaping C flour
-1 tsp baking powder

-Melt the lard in the boiling water, stirring until completely melted. Stir in the salt until dissolved.

-GENTLY mix in the heaping cups of flour and baking powder, stir ONLY until the flour is wet and the dough looks marbled. DO NOT OVER MIX.

-cover and chill for 2-4 hours, or overnight.
-cut out a piece of dough roughly the size of a softball and form into a ball
-on a floured surface roll out the ball of dough to your desired size and thickness, occasionally flipping, turning and re-flouring the dough so it doesn't stick to the surface. Make sure you don't work the dough too much or your crust will be tough.
-Gently place the dough in your pie pan. Prick holes with a fork in the bottom of the shell if baking the shell without filling, otherwise, fill the shell with filling and top with another layer of pie crust and flute the edges to seal the crust together and make it look pretty.

Bake time will depend on type of pie. If just baking the shell, bake at 375 degrees for 10-15 minutes or until it starts to golden.

Pumpkin Waffles

It's fall and I have an over abundance of fresh pumpkin puree that I made and froze earlier this fall. We've had pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin muffins and so I figured pumpkin waffles had to be next. These are great for a crisp fall morning...or afternoon or dinner. We are not above eating breakfast for supper at our house!

Pumpkin Waffles

-1 1/2 C flour
-2 tsp baking powder
-1/8 tsp salt
-1/8 tsp ground ginger
-1/8 tsp ground cloves
-1/2 tsp nutmeg
-1/2 tsp cinnamon
-1/3 C sugar
-3/4 C buttermilk
-1/2 C melted butter
-1 tsp vanilla
-3 eggs, separated
-1 C pumpkin puree

-Beat egg whites until stiff peaks form
-Meanwhile, mix all the other ingredients together until smooth. (feel free to adjust the measurements of the spices to your own personal preference) Fold in the egg whites.
-Follow the instructions on your waffle iron for cooking the waffles. 

Top with maple syrup and whipped cream. Enjoy!

Whipped Cream

-1 C heavy whipping cream
-1/4 C sugar (add more or less depending on how sweet you like your whipped cream)
-2 tsp vanilla

-whip on high until thick and fluffy

Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes

These cupcakes are perfect if you want to take a break from your normal everyday cupcake. (...if you were to eat cupcakes everyday that is...) They bring in the flavors and textures of the delectable and loved Nanaimo Bar, but are in cupcake form. In short, if you are a fan of Nanaimo Bars, you are going to LOVE these cupcakes!

Nanaimo Bar Cupcakes

Cake:
-1 C boiling water
-1 C cocoa
-1 1/2 C buttermilk
-1 C butter, room temperature
-2 C sugar
-1 tsp vanilla
-1 tsp salt
-2 eggs
-3 C flour
-1 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp baking powder
-1 1/2 C flaked coconut
-1 C chopped or slivered almonds
 
-Add the cocoa to the boiling water and thoroughly mix until smooth, let cool and add buttermilk, mixing again until smooth. Set aside.
-In a mixer (or bowl with a handheld mixer), combine butter, sugar, vanilla and salt. Mix on medium speed until the batter is light in color and fluffy in texture.
-Add eggs, one at a time, combining completely each time.
-Sift together flour, soda and powder.
-Starting with the flour mixture, add a small amount to the cake batter and mix JUST until combined. Add a small amount of the cocoa/buttermilk mixture. Stir until combined. Keep adding flour and moisture alternatively, mixing just until combined until everything is incorporated. DO NOT OVER MIX.
-Gently fold in coconut and almonds.
-Spoon the batter out into individual cupcake liners

Bake at 350 Degrees for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cupcake comes out clean. 

Icing:

-1/2 C milk
-1/2 C cream
-2 tsp vanilla
-4 egg yolks
-2 tsp corn starch
 -1/4 C butter

-2 t0 6 C icing sugar

-in a heatproof bowl whisk together the egg yolks, corn starch and vanilla
-in a saucepan, combine the milk and cream and heat over medium, stirring constantly until the milk/cream mixture is hot, almost boiling, but do not allow boil.
-temper the eggs by pouring a little of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. After the first little bit has been whisked in, slowly add the rest of the milk mixture in a slow stream while whisking constantly.
-return the mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly over low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon. (If you cook the mixture too long, or allow it to boil, it could curdle, and you don't want that!)
-allow to cool to room temperature
-in a mixing bowl cream together the custard, butter and icing sugar. (start with about 2 c of the icing sugar and add more if needed to make it thick enough to spread over cupcakes)
-Spread or pipe the icing mixture on top of cooled cupcakes.

-OR- 

Click HERE for easier, traditional Nanaimo Bar filling recipe 

Topping:

-1/2 C semisweet chocolate chips
-1/4 C heavy whipping cream

-In a microwave safe bowl, melt the chocolate chips and cream together and mix until smooth.
-spoon the mixture into a pastry bag or sandwich bag and drizzle over the cupcakes.