Cake'n'Bake Wednesday: Mini Pumpkin Pies

I LOVE pumpkin pie! So when "Trick or Treat" was selected as the theme for our October 2012 meeting, I simply HAD to make pumpkin pie. I decided to make individually sized portions of pie for club as they are just that little bit easier to share.

I followed one of the other members' recipes for pastry, and so glad I did as it was my most successful attempt at making pastry to date! Long-term readers of the blog will know that pastry is my weakness...

Ingredients

For the pastry cases:
200g slightly salted butter, chilled and cubed.
400g plain flour
80g icing sugar
2 medium eggs, beaten

Note: you could always use store bought pastry, if you wanted to. Mary Berry said it was OK. If using store bought pastry, skip to step 3.

For the pumpkin filling:
1 large egg, plus 1 yolk
125ml double cream
200g condensed milk
220g pureed pumpkin
1tsp ground cinnamon

Makes 16 - 18 tarts, depending on the size of you pan (I made mine in a muffin pan)

1. Start by NOT preheating the oven. You want the kitchen to be as cold as possible whilst you're making the pastry. Tip the cold, cubed butter and the flour into a large mixing bowl, and rub in between your fingers until it resembles fine bread crumbs. 
2. Mix in the icing sugar by hand, then cut in the beaten egg with a knife until the mixture starts to come together to form a dough. Press the mixture together into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.
3. Whilst the pastry is in the fridge, prepare your pie filling. Start by whisking the egg and egg yolk together until light and frothy. Add the cream, condensed milk, pureed pumpkin and cinnamon and continue to whisk for 3-4 minutes, until the ingredients combined to form a custard-like consistency.
4. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4, and grease a deep muffin pan.
5. Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and knead it lightly, before rolling out as thinly as possible. Cut circles out of the pastry and place this into the muffin pan, using the end of a rolling pin to help you push the pastry into the muffin holes. Prick the pastry cases all over with a fork, then blind bake for 15 minutes.
6. Take the pastry cases from the oven, and carefully remove the foil and baking beans used for the blind bake. Fill each pastry case with 2tbsp of the pie filling, then return to the oven for another 30 minutes, until the pie filling is completely set (you can test with a cocktail stick, if you'd like to.) You'll noticed that the pie filling has risen into a dome shape - this will deflate as the pie cools. Don't worry, this happens to mine all of the time and as far as I can tell it's normal. At the very least - they still taste good!
7. Allow the pies to cool in the muffin pan, then keep refrigerated.

Happy Thoughts
x

Chicken, Bacon and Leek Pie

Just after I moved house and finished unpacking I had a real hankering for pie, so whipped up this tasty treat. I don't usually post savoury recipes to the blog, but this IS a bake so I thought it would be good to share.

This pie is fairly quick and very simple, and have I mentioned yet that it's really tasty? It's really tasty. The photos really don't do this justice! I cheated and used ready-to-roll pastry, but you guys already know that pastry is my baking weakness, right!? One day I will have a go at making my own puff pastry, and you'll be the first to know when I do, but for now, ready-to-roll works perfectly.

Ingredients: 
1 large chicken breast
2 rashers of bacon
half a leek
1 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tsps cornflour
150ml chicken stock
Pinch of black pepper
1/2 packet of ready to roll puff pastry

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Serves: 2

1. Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 5 (approx 190 degrees) and take your pastry out of the fridge.
2. Chop the chicken and bacon into chunks, and finely slice the leek.
3. Heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan and stir fry the chicken until slightly golden, add the bacon and leek to the frying pan, stirring until the bacon is cooked and the leek has softened. Add the cornflour to the pan and stir well to coat all of the pieces. Slowly stir in the chicken stock, then allow the mixture to simmer for 5 minute until it reduces and thickens. Season with the pepper then pour this into a pie dish.
4. Roll out the pastry to around 6mm thick, then lay this over the top of the pie filling, tucking in the edges to seal. Cut two slits in the top to allow the steam to escape, then brush with a little milk.
5. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown and crispy on top. All the pie to cool for a few minutes before serving (I had mine with mash, roast carrots and parsnips, and minted green beans. It was gooood!)

Happy Thoughts
x

Pocahontas, That Tree's Talking to Me

Disney Classic # 33 - Pocahontas

Not particularly attractive, but very tasty!

For Pocahontas I'd decided I wanted to attempt a Native American recipe, possibly something corn-based (corn is the "gold" that Pocahontas' tribe has and Governor Radcliffe wants...) so I ran a google search for "Native American desserts" to see what came up. For a while I was really keen on making these sweet hominy chimichangas, however I could not find hominy for sale in the UK for love nor money. And I found the same with other recipes I came across, each seemed to have one key ingredient that I couldn't get my hands on unless I imported it from the US (at a seemingly high cost!)

So, I had to go with the back up plan of pumpkin pie. Not that I'm complaining, I love pumpkin. (And don't underestimate how difficult it is to find pumpkin in the UK outside of October!!) Pumpkin pie was suggested way back in November - when Mike was feeling nostalgic for his time in America and craving pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving he suggested that we have a pumpkin pie for Pocahontas, creating a link through the story of Thanksgiving Day. (From what I understand it, the American Indians and the Pilgrims decided to be best friends and all sat down together to have a big feast of turkey and pumpkin pie and it DOES relate to Pocahontas somehow, honest!)

So pumpkin pie it is!

I got this recipe from BBC Good Foods 101 Tempting Desserts, and followed it pretty much to the letter.

Prep/cook time: A long time!! Approx 3.5-4 hours (although a lot of this time is baking/cooling time so you can do other things too!)


Serves: 8-10

Ingredients

1 small green pumpkin (or a 425g tinned pumpkin, or 425g pureed pumpkin)
500g pack ready made shortcrust pastry
2 large eggs
2 egg yolks
250ml double cream
397g can condensed milk
1tsp ground cinnamon
1tsp ground mixed spice

For the topping:
50g butter
25g chopped pecan pieces
25g chopped walnut pieces
85g light brown sugar

To serve:
200ml double cream
1tbsp icing sugar
1tsp vanilla extract
Pinch of cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6.
2. Remove the stalk and stem of the pumpkin and chop it in half. Remove the seeds from the middle and then chop into roughly 1 inch slices, leaving the skin on. Place these into a roasting tin and bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
3. Once cool enough to handle, peel the skin from the pumpkin flesh and place the flesh into a blender. Blend to a smooth paste and leave to cool completely.
4. Preheat the oven to gas mark 6, and grease a pie/flan dish.
5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use this to line the pie dish. Trim the edges and press a pattern into the top edge. Place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.
6. Prick the pastry base all over with a fork, then cover with greaseproof paper. place some baking beans or uncooked rice on top of the greaseproof paper to weigh it down. Bake for 12 minutes then remove from oven.
7. Reduce the heat of the oven to gas mark 4.
8. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg yolks until frothy. Add the cream, the condensed milk, 425g tinned/pureed pumpkin, cinnamon and mixed spice and whisk thoroughly. Pour the mixture into the pastry case and bake for 50 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for 2 hours.
10. Melt the butter over a low heat, then stir in the chopped nuts and sugar. Spoon this mixture over the pie. Cover the edges of the pastry with foil, then place the pie under the grill for 2-3 minutes, until the topping is bubbling.
11. Remove from the grill and allow to cool a little before placing the pie in the fridge to chill. Refrigerate until serving.
12. To serve, whip the cream in a large bowl with the icing sugar and vanilla extract. Spoon or pipe onto the pie and enjoy ^_^

Next time it's the Hunchback of Notredame (which I love and think is completely under-rated!!) and I'll be serving up some choux pastries.

Happy Thoughts
x




The one that Started it All

Disney Classic # 1 - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

I think that I may have trouble finding recipes and coming up with ideas for some of the Disney movies, but with Snow White there was no such trouble - I immediately knew it just *had* to be Apple Pie ^_^

Thing is, I don't actually like Apple Pie, and I've never made it before. But still... no doubt in my mind that Snow White would like an apple pie...

Yep, old Snowie definitely loves the pie

I found a recipe here, but I changed it slightly to better suit my needs. So here it is!

Ingredients:

3 large cooking apples (around 900g)

2 small unwaxed lemons

1 tsp ground cinnamon

100g caster sugar, plus more for sprinkling

1 egg, lightly beaten

750g ready made shortcrust pastry

Flour for dusting

Butter for greasing

Prep time: 30 mins    
Cook time: 50-60mins     
Serves: 6-8

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 4 then grease your pie dish with the butter.
2. Finely grate the zest of both lemons, and then juice them. Put this to one side.
3. Peel, core and quarter the apples, and then slice them thickly into a bowl. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice, and mix well with hands
4. Lightly dust the work surface with flour, then roll out 2/3rds of the pastry to around 0.5cm thick. Gently place the pastry into the pie dish, being careful not to tear it as you press it into the sides of the dish. Trim the edges, leaving around a 1cm overlap around the top of the dish. Brush the rim of the pastry with beaten egg.
5. Mix the apple mixture again and then place this on top of pastry base
6. Roll out the rest of the pastry, again until 0.5cm thick. Place the pastry over the top of the apple mixture, and trim the edges, again leaving a 1cm overlap. using your thumb and forefinger, crimp the edges of the pastry together to seal. Decorate the top of the pie with the remaining pastry as desired, using a little bit of the egg to "stick" pieces together.
7. Brush the pastry with the egg wash, then dredge with caster sugar. Cut three slits into the to of the pie to allow steam to escape.
8. Bake the pie for 50-60mins until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit is tender. (To check the tenderness of the fruit, pop a knife into one of the slits previously made, the knife should slide easily though the fruit inside the pie.) 

The pie is best served immediately, with either ice-cream or custard. I'm told it's also pretty tasty cold!

Next time: It's Pinocchio!! I'm planning a Pleasure Island inspired feast for naughty boys! Beer flavoured cake and chocolate cigars - a pretty big challenge but I'm sure it will be worth it!

Happy thoughts

x