Showing posts with label feature. Show all posts
Showing posts with label feature. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Feature Post: Pi Day!

Hey guys, this is Hannah! She's a math teacher, a great baker, and most importantly one of my really wonderful friends. A couple of weeks ago was Pi Day (03/14) so she came over and made some ADORABLE pies that you get to see on feature today!

 
Being a math teacher means that celebrating Pi Day is pretty much mandatory. It is a day however, that I have always enjoyed because I am fascinated my pi. It is absolutely amazing that no matter how large or small a circle is, its circumference divided by diameter is always a constant number, pi. Anyway, I won't bore you too much with the math because we all know that the real reason we celebrate Pi Day is to make pie! I decided on mini pies because they are perfect to share. My all-time favorite flavors of pie are berry and key lime so of course, that's what I made. These are so delicious that they could be made any day of the year, but I decorated them for the holiday. I made my own stencil to cut out pie crust in the shape of the pi symbol to place atop the berry pies. I had planned to write the digits of pi on the key lime pies using writing icing but the icing separated so I gave up and left them plain. They were so delicious that they really didn't need the extra decoration.

I hope that you enjoy these recipes!



Mini Key Lime Pies
 
Ingredients:
  • 6 graham crackers
  • 1/3 cup butter, melted
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1 can sweetened condensed milk
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1/2 cup key lime juice
  • 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a muffin pan with liners. Make graham cracker crumbs using a food processor (or crush them in a Ziploc if you don't have a food processor). Mix together with butter and sugar. Divide crumbs evenly between cupcake liners and press down into a firm layer. Bake for 8 minutes and then remove from heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, beat together the sweetened condensed milk, egg, lime juice, and Greek yogurt until smooth. Fill each cupcake liner and bake for 15 minutes or until the custard has set.

Let them cool at room temperature and then refrigerate for a couple hours until they are cold. Serve with whipped cream!


Mini Berry Pi(e)s
Ingredients:
  • 2 boxes of refrigerated pie crusts (you can also make from scratch)
  • 2 packages (12 oz) raspberries
  • 2 packages (12 oz) blackberries
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 5 tbsp flour
  • 3/4 c sugar (may need more to taste)
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Remove dough from refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for about 20 minutes.
Mix all of the filling ingredients together. Smash berries slightly so that you get an even amount in each of the mini pies.

Lightly cover work surface with flour and unroll dough onto it. Use a 4-inch round cutter to stamp out rounds (I used a plastic lid from a parmesan container)

Place rounds in muffin wells and crimp to fit. Fill wells 3/4 of the way up with filling.

To create the pi symbol: I created a stencil by printing off a pi symbol the size of the muffin wells and mounting it on cardboard. Then, I placed this stencil on top of the crust and used a knife to cut around it.
If it is not Pi Day, you could also create a lattice for the top crust.
Bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown. Let cool and then serve with vanilla ice cream!

Downloadable recipes here: Mini Key Lime Pie & Mini Berry Pi(e)

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Feature: American Sweets with Ashley

Hi everyone, meet Ashley! 
 
Ashley is one of my good friends from work and a pretty talented baker. She previously attended pastry school and still bakes on the side. I wanted to share about her so I asked her to whip together a Fourth of July themed dessert, especially since she loves the holiday just as much as I do.


Q&A with Ash
What's your favorite thing to bake? I knew you would ask that! Everyone does. I love to make wedding cakes but the chocolate station at pastry school was awesome. I would be covered in chocolate in minutes... Good thing I had four aprons.
Why did you decide to go to pastry school? Because I can't stand lecture classes. I fall asleep in them. I actually did have to take a few... And I fell asleep.
Did you bake before school? I liked cooking a little before and I was going to go to cooking school (if I remember correctly). But I liked how the decorating part of baking is more artsy. We learned to make flowers and did air brushing in school.
What's your favorite thing about the Fourth of July?
Definitely the fireworks! Also back home on Vashon Island the morning of the Fourth you wake up early and go see locals who own hydroplanes race around the island. It's really loud and fun and most people are hungover from the night before. I mean, not me of course.


Every good night of baking starts with a glass of wine, right? And I was totally amazed by her kitchen gadgets. I mean, look at this measuring cup!
She put together a Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle. This trifle used 4 different layers: lady fingers, a raspberry mix, homemade whipped cream made with mascarpone cheese, and blueberries.
Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle adapted from here. 
1.5 pounds of raspberries
3/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/4 cup orange juice
10 oz mascarpone cheese
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
salt
20-24 ladyfingers
3/4 lb blueberries
  • Mix raspberries, 1/4 c sugar, and orange juice. Mash berries with a fork to let juices release. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.
  • Mix together mascarpone and 1/2 c sugar until smooth. Whisk in cream, vanilla, and a pinch of salt.
  • Cut one or two pieces of parchment paper or foil 1 inch taller than the side of a springform pan and layer the inside of the pan.
  • Create a layer of ladyfingers at the bottom of a 10-inch springform pan. Cover with a layer of raspberry mixture. Spread a layer of whipped cream over raspberries. *Here you can use a 8-inch pan and repeat so you have two layers of each if you want your trifle to be thicker.
  • Top with blueberries and refrigerate until whipped cream is stiffened and cookies have softened, about 3 hours.

Oh, and I almost forgot her trusty sidekick... Dierks! He's very good at eating raspberries that fall on the floor.
XO J