Pumpkin Pie

Traditional Pumpkin Pie

Update: Ivy has posted the ROUNDUP

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Ivy from Kopiaste… is hosting another wonderful event devoted to pies, this time sweet ones.  I decided to enter a classic all-American pumpkin pie, a traditional dessert enjoyed in the Fall and always part of the Thanksgiving feast.

The poet John Greenleaf Whittier, born in Massachusetts in 1807, immortalized pumpkins—and pumpkin pie—in his work The Pumpkin, from which the following verses are taken:

What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye,

What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?

There are many versions of pumpkin pie, more or less rich, more or less spiced, some sweetened with sugar, others with molasses, maple syrup, or even with honey.

The recipe I feature here is very simple, minimally spiced with cinnamon, and sweetened with very little sugar.  If the pumpkin is very tasty to begin with there is no need to be heavy handed with spices, and sweeteners like molasses might be too strong and overpower the delicate flavor of the main ingredient itself. Even if canned pumpkin is an acceptable shortcut, it cannot compare with freshly roasted pumpkin and the result will be much tastier—and definitely worth the extra time and effort—if the latter were used.

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From the original recipes by Bertha Lippincott Parrish

In: “The ‘Home’ Cook Book”, by the Children’s Summer Home of Cinnaminson, NJ, 1914—USA

and Juniata L. Shepperd

In: “Handbook of Household Science”, 1902—USA

Ingredients

Filling:

1 cup (250 g) roasted and pureed pumpkin

1/4 cup (60 ml) cream or milk

3 tbsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon or 1/2 tsp nutmeg (according to taste)

1 large egg, divided

1 tbsp butter

1/4 tsp salt

Crust:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (scant) butter

1/4 tsp salt

ice water as needed

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Make the Crust: In a food processor put flour salt and butter (diced), and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running add enough water for the dough to come together. Do not overprocess. Wrap the dough in wax paper and let rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness and line a deep pie dish, make a decorative rim. I used a small cookie-cutter shaped like a maple leaf to decorate the rim of the pie as well as the top.

Make the filling: Cream the butter and add the sugar little by little, then the yolk, cream or milk, salt and spice, and then the pureed pumpkin.  Beat the egg white till stiff peaks form, and add it to the pumpkin mixture, gently, until well incorporated.

Fill the prepared pastry shell, decorate the rim and top as you like, and bake in a preheated oven (375°F), until the pastry is golden brown and the filling barely wiggles in the center. Let the pie cool on a rack.

Chess Pie (quiche, tarte, & co.)

A Southern classic: Chess Pie

This is my entry for the event hosted by  Zorra of 1x umrühren bitte .

ROUNDUP IS HERE

Chess pie is a classic dessert in the culinary repertoire of Southern U.S. The flaky crust encloses a sweet, sweet, sweet, and creamy filling topped by an ever-so-thin, crispy layer of meringue.

From the original recipes by:  Mattie Lee Wehrley

In: “Handy Household Hints and Recipes”, 1916, USA

and Juniata L. Shepperd

In: “Handbook of Household Science”, 1902—USA

Ingredients:

Filling:

4 eggs

2 cups sugar

2/3 cups butter

1 tbsp flour

1/2 cup milk or cream

Crust:

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (scant) butter

1/4 tsp salt

ice water as needed

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Make the Crust: In a food processor put flour salt and butter (diced), and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running add enough water for the dough to come together. Do not overprocess. Wrap the dough in wax paper and let rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness and line a deep pie dish, make a decorative rim.

Filling: melt the butter and let cool. Warm the milk and set aside.Beat the eggs at high speed with the sugar until very light (at least 15 minutes), then add the flour, the melted and cooled butter, and the lukewarm milk. If the milk is cold the mixture will curdle. If this happens, blend with an immersion blender until smooth and glossy.

Pour the filling in the prepared pan and bake at 350F (180C), until the top of the filling is golden brown. Let the pie cool in the pan placed on a rack. Serve cold; refrigerate any leftovers.

A note on the pie pan to use: I recommend using a metal deep-dish pie pan. In my experience, pies baked in  glass and ceramic pie dishes often have a soggy, undercooked pastry layer, which spoils the final result. Natural finish aluminum pie pans are best because they bake evenly.

Potato Pie

A tasty savory pie filled with potatoes and onions, milk and a touch of butter.

Ivy of Kopiaste is the host of a blog event all about savory pies. My contribution is a simple one, made with a buttery crust filled with shredded potatoes, onions, milk and butter. The filling is assembled in the pie crust with raw ingredients, which makes the preparation easy and quick. Furthermore, it does not contain any eggs. The result is a truly wonderful pie, with a perfectly flaky crust enclosing a tender, buttery filling, which is best enjoyed warm. Something worth trying for a simple dinner on a cold winter night.

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ROUNDUP IS HERE

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From the original recipes by  Jane Cunningham Croly

In: “Jennie June’s American Cookery Book”, 1878—USA

and Juniata L. Shepperd

In: “Handbook of Household Science”, 1902—USA

Ingredients:

Filling:

4-5 large potatoes

1 small onion

1 tbsp butter

1/4 to1/3 cup cup whole milk (or half-and-half)

1/2 tsp kosher salt

Crust

1-1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup (scant) butter

1/4 tsp salt

ice water as needed

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C).

Make the Crust: In a food processor put flour salt and butter (diced), and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. With the machine running add enough water for the dough to come together. Do not overprocess. Wrap the dough in wax paper and let rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes. Roll the dough to about 1/8-inch thickness and line a deep pie dish, letting the extra pastry hang over the sides of the pan.

Filling: peel, wash and dry the potatoes. Shred them finely, mix them with the shredded onion and salt.  Put the mixture into the pie plate lined with pastry, then pour over enough milk (or half-and-half) to barely cover the filling. Distribute the butter in small pieces all over the filling, fold over the pastry so that the filling is partially covered. Bake for about 1 hour. Serve warm.

This pie does not freeze well, either baked or raw, because the potatoes turn mushy.

Linzertorte (Novel Food 4)

A traditional Linzer tart made with almonds, spices, and berry jam.

Novel Food is a lovely, seasonal blog event that pairs food and literature—hosted by Simona of Briciole and Lisa of Champaign Taste.

ROUNDUP PART 1 & PART 2

This time I chose to recreate a food item from the novel The Inn at Lake Devine , by one of my absolute favorite contemporary American writers: Elinor Lipman.

In this novel the author addresses the issues of antisemitism and prejudice, of religious and ethnic barriers and the courage to cross them. It is no small feat to explore these themes in a novel and Ms Lipman succeeds at doing that through a flawless, witty tale in which sharp social satire intertwines with romance and tragedy, and destiny takes unpredictable turns.

The most remarkable aspect of the novel, in fact, is that it carries across its message clearly and powerfully by describing how the social and historical context affects the personal and the individual—and vice versa.

The novel unfolds at a swift pace and is masterfully written in a language peppered by humor—and a few Yiddish words here and there.  The story is told through the voice of Natalie Marx, who embarks in her own personal crusade against bigotry and social injustice and finds love in the process.

Food is present throughout the novel, as a metaphor for separateness and closeness, identity and nurture. Natalie realizes that her call is becoming a chef and through food she will finally, albeit unwittingly, conquer a local example of antisemitism—the Inn that gives the title to the novel itself.

Here is an excerpt from the novel in which the Linzertorte is actually mentioned:

Ahead of Nelson, a woman in a blue lace dress, with hair the smoky gray of cat fur, turned to speak. “What’s the name of your hotel again?” she asked.

“The Inn at Lake Devine”

“Is that near Rutland?”

“Very close. Do you know Rutland?”

“I have a cousin there,” she said. She held her plate out to the chef overseeing the Linzertorte. “Is it a white hotel with a big porch and a lawn that goes down to the water?”

“That’s us,”said Nelson.

She paused before asking, “And how long has your family owned it?”

“All my life,” Nelson said, with the polish of a spelling bee finalist. “And my grandparents before that.”

“My cousins told me about you,” said the woman, minus the smile of a satisfied customer.

From the original recipe by Florence Kreisler Greenbaum

In: “The International Jewish Cookbook”, 1919—USA

Ingredients

8 oz. flour

8 oz. shelled almonds (not blanched)

8 oz. sugar

4 oz. butter (room temperature)

2 eggs

1/2 tbsp brandy

1 generous pinch of allspice

1 pinch of salt

2 jars berry jam (e.g., strawberry, raspberry)

Grind the almonds with the sugar until powdery. Mix with the flour, spice and salt. Work in the butter at low speed until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the eggs, lightly beaten, and the brandy, and mix at low speed until the dough holds together. Wrap the dough in wax paper and let rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare a 10-inch springform pan.

Take 2/3 of the dough and roll to about 1/4-inch thickness on a generously floured surface. The dough is crumbly and is tricky to roll. Alternatively it can be patted into the pan. Line the pan bottom and half way up the sides. Prick all over the dough with a fork, then fill with jam. Roll the remaining dough and cut in strips to form a lattice top on the jam layer.

Bake the tart for 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan placed on a rack for 5 minutes, then unmold it and let it finish cooling on the rack.

The tart is better made one day ahead.

Cinnamon Tartlets (Small Tarts Have Big Hearts! Mini Pie Revolution Event #2)

These plain little tarts hide a tender almond meringue heart scented with cinnamon

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Roundup is HERE

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For Valentine’s day, in the second blog event hosted by Karyn and Ann, as my contribution I chose these little tarts from a vintage cookbook published in Chicago in 1907.

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While reading the recipe I could tell they should be pretty good, but once I made them I realized I had underestimated the results.

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Even if their plain appearance might not catch too much attention at first, they actually hide a surprisingly delicate meringue heart in their tender pastry shell.

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From the original recipes by Paul Richards

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In: “Paul Richard’s Book of Breads, Cakes, Pastries, Ices and Sweetmeats, 1907—USA

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Ingredients

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Short paste for tarts

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2 cups (227 g) flour

1/3 cup (75 g) butter, cold

2-1/2 tbsp (30 g) sugar

1 yolk

1-3 tbsp (15-45 ml) milk (or as needed)

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Cinnamon filling

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1/3 cup egg white (whites from 2 extra-large eggs)

1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

scant 1/2 cup (2 oz., 60 g) whole almonds, blanched

1-1/2 tsp (3 g) ground cinnamon

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extra sugar to decorate ( I used Demerara but any kind will do)

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Prepare the almonds: Place the almonds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Toast the almonds in the oven (preheated at 350F°—180°C) for about 10 minutes, or until just lightly colored. Let the almonds cool completely.

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Make the short paste: Put the flour in the food processor with the butter (diced) and pulse until the flour resembles wet sand. Add the sugar and pulse briefly to mix it in. Add the yolks and process briefly, then, with the machine running, add milk. Start with 1 tbsp of milk and add a little more at a time, pulsing, until the crumbly dough just holds together. Be careful not to add too much milk or the dough will be wet and sticky.

Wrap the dough in wax paper and let it rest in a cool place for about 30 minutes.

Roll the paste on a floured board to a scant 1/8-inch (3 mm) thickness and line bottom and sides of tartlet molds. I have used heart-shaped tartlet pans that are as big as min-muffin cups.

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Preheat the oven to 325°F (160°C)

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Make the filling: Grind the almonds with 2 tbsp of sugar (taken from the total) and the cinnamon until they are fine and powdery. It is important that the almonds are cool when you grind them or they will become pasty and oily.

Beat the egg whites at high speed until soft, glossy peaks form, then add the remaining sugar 1 tsp at a time. The meringue should be stiff but not overbeaten and dry. Gently fold in the almond-cinnamon mixture, being careful not to deflate the meringue.

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Assemble the tartlets: Fill each pastry shell to the rim with the meringue mixture, sprinkle a little sugar over the filling. Bake in a slow oven until puffed and golden (about 30-35 minutes, depending on the size of your mini pans). Cool the mini tarts on racks.

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P.S. I scaled down the original recipes–the short paste recipe called for 3 lb of flour, and you might have a little more dough than filling, depending also on the type of tart pans you have.

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Crostata di Marmellata (Jam Tart)

A traditional Italian jam tart

This is my entry for the event hosted by Erin from Skinny Gourmet, for which participants should post about a food that for them evokes memories and stories. My entry is a jam tart, a dessert rather simple and homey in itself, yet never boring or dull. This is the first kind of baked goods that as a little girl I learned to make from my mother. It was easy and quick to assemble, improved with time, and was our favorite to have with tea. In Italian we called it a crostata di marmellata. It evokes memories of many happy, precious hours spent with my mother in the kitchen, watching her preparing food and learning from her. We always used the following recipe to make pastafrolla—a perfect shortcrust pastry: sweet and buttery but not too rich, tender and crumbly yet sturdy enough to hold the filling.

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here is the Roundup 

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From the original recipe by Pellegrino Artusi

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In: La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene” , 1891–Italy

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Ingredients

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2 cups (250 g) AP flour, unbleached

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1/2 cup (125 g) unsalted butter, diced

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1/2 cup (110 g) sugar

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1 medium egg

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1 yolk

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1 cup (260 g) fruit jam (such as apricot, plum, or sour cherry)

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If the granulated sugar is coarse, it is preferable to process it briefly in a food processor or coffee grinder. Mix flour and sugar, then work the butter in with the tip of your fingers until the mixture resembles wet sand. Add the egg and yolk and work briefly until the dough just holds together.

It is important not to overwork the dough (do not knead it) or it will harden when baked.

A food processor works perfectly to make the dough: start by placing flour and sugar in the work bowl, process for a few seconds to mix, then add the butter and pulse a few times until the mixture looks like wet sand. Add the egg and yolk and process a few seconds more until the dough forms. Do not overprocess.

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Wrap the dough in wax paper and let it rest in a cool place for at least 30 minutes.

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On a lightly floured board roll 2/3 of the pastry dough to a 1/8-in (3 mm) thickness, and line with it the bottom and sides of a 9-in (23 cm) tart pan with scalloped edges and a removable bottom. The sides should be lined with a slightly thicker layer of pastry than the bottom, about 1/4-in (0.5 cm). Fold back in the dough that is hanging over the sides to make a thicker lining along the sides. Cut of excess. Prick the pastry bottom with the tines of a fork in a few places, then spread with the jam. Do not use a deep tart mold.

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Roll the remaining pastry on a lightly floured board slightly thicker than 1/8-in (3 mm), then with a sharp knife or pastry cutter cut it in strips 1/4-inch (0.5 cm) wide and make a lattice on top of the jam layer. There might be some leftover pastry. I usually make a few cookies with it, or tartlets.

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You can see how the lattice should look here.

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Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and bake the tart until golden, about 25 minutes. Unmold the tart as soon as it is ready and let it cool on a rack. If left in the pan it will turn irremediably soggy. It is great freshly baked but it definitely improves after a day or two, if kept in a closed container.

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A note on the fruit jam: select a jam that is relatively low in sugar, 38% to 40% content of sugar is best; jams that contain a higher percentage of sugar tend to be adversely affected by the baking temperatures, turning sticky and ruining the final result.

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Mini Custard Pies (Mini Pie Revolution)

A dainty miniature version of a classic: custard pie, flavored with vanilla and nutmeg

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This is my entry for the Mini Pie Revolution blog event hosted by Karyn and Ann at The Mini Pie Revolution Headquarters

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HERE is the ROUNDUP——————

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From the original recipes by:

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Miss Catharine Esther Beecher

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In: “Miss Beecher’s Domestic Receipt Book”, c1846–USA

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Mrs. Fanny L. Gillette

In: “The White House Cook Book”, 1887–USA

Ingredients

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Pie Paste

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3/4 lb (1-1/2 cup–350 g) butter, cold
1 lb flour (3.5 cups–454 g) + extra as needed
ice water as needed
1 tsp (6 g) salt

Custard Filling

3 eggs
3 heaping tbsp (45 g) sugar
1 heaping tbsp (10 g) flour
1 pinch salt
2 cups (488 g) milk, scalded and cooled to lukewarm
1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla paste
grated nutmeg to taste

Make the Pie Paste

Take a quarter of the butter and place it into the bowl of a food processor, add the flour and salt and process until the mixture resemble wet sand. Pour a thin stream of ice water into the food processor bowl pulsing until the mixture turn into to a stiff paste. Wrap the dough in wax paper and leave in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator. In my basement in this season the temperature is about 60°F, and I find it ideal to keep the dough at that temperature.

Meanwhile, dredge the board thick with flour, and cut up the remainder of the butter into thin slices, lay each slice upon the flour, and dredge with another thick layer of flour. Then roll out the butter slices into thin sheets and lay them aside.

Take the dough previously prepared and roll it out thin (1/8 inch–3 mm) , cover it with a sheet of this rolled butter, dredge on more flour, fold it up in thirds, roll it out again, and then repeat the process till all the butter is used up. Wrap the final dough in wax paper and let rest for at least 30 minutes in a cool place.

Make the pie shells:

Roll the dough thin (1/8-inch–3 mm), then with a biscuit cutter cut out rounds to line the cups of mini muffin pans (butter the pan cups before lining them). Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C) , line each pastry shell with a small piece of aluminum foil and fill with dried beans. Bake the empty shell for about 5 minutes, then take the pans out and let cool on racks. Make sure the shells are throughly baked, otherwise put them back in the oven for a little longer, until ready. If the shells are not completely baked in advance, they will become soggy once filled with the custard.

With the pastry scraps you can make tiny cutouts to decorate the pies once they are baked. Place the cutouts on a cookie sheet and bake them separately until golden.

Make the custard filling:

Mix the sugar and flour, then beat the yolks until pale yellow and light, adding little by little the flour-sugar mixture. Then add salt, vanilla and nutmeg, and next the egg whites slightly beaten. Finally add the milk in a thin stream and mix well.

Assemble the pies

Pour the custard mixture into the cooled pastry shells and bake in the preheated oven (300°F–160°C) until the custard is set. A higher temperature will make the custard curdle.

Cool the pies in the pans placed on racks. Refrigerate leftovers.

Note: This pie paste recipe makes the flakiest, lightest pie shells ever. It is worth trying.

 

 

A Nice Apple Cake

This is in fact a tart, and not just nice, but really wonderful, although I kept the name given to the recipe by its author, Mrs. Davidis.

It is simple to make and truly delicious: a buttery pastry shell topped with apples and almonds, combined in a delightful balance of tartness and sweetness.

This is my entry for the Apple Day Blog Event proposed by Zorra

The ROUNDUP is here–see all the great recipes that each participant contributed!

 

From the original recipe by Henriette Davidis

In “Henriette Davidis’ Practical Cook Book. Compiled For The United States From The Thirty-fifth German Edition” 1897–USA

Ingredients

Pastry:

2 cups(9 oz –255 g) all-purpose flour (unbleached)

1 cup ( 1/2 lb–2 sticks—-227 g) unsalted butter

3 tbsp (1 oz –28 g) sugar

2 tbsp (30 ml) cold water (or as needed)

Apple Topping:

5-6 tart apples (I used Granny Smith apples)

1/2 cup (100 g) white wine

1/2 organic lemon (juice and zest)

1/3 cup (30 g–1 oz) almonds, blanched and coarsely ground

flour

sugar

Preheat the oven to 325°F–160°C

Make the Pastry: Put the flour and butter in the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly until the mixture looks like bread crumbs. Add the sugar and pulse briefly to mix it in, then add enough cold water, 1 tbsp at a time, processing briefly until the pastry comes together. Do not over process. Gather the dough in a piece of wax paper and let it rest in a cool place, but not in the refrigerator, for about 20 minutes. Then place the dough in a springform pan (10-inch–25 cm diameter), pressing it down with the tip of your fingers over the bottom and 1/3 up the sides of the pan to line the pan with a thin layer of pastry. Sift a thin layer of flour over the pastry shell, then place the pan in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the Apple Topping: Mix the wine, 1 tbsp of sugar, the ground almonds, the lemon juice and the grated lemon zest and set this mixture aside. Peel and core the apples, cut them in half, and with a sharp knife score each apple half on the round side with several thin parallel cuts that reach 2/3 of the way through. Dip each apple half in the wine mixture, then arrange the apples, cut side down, on the pastry shell. Spoon any remaining wine mixture on top of the apples, then sprinkle a very generous amount of sugar all over and between the apples.

Bake for at least 90 minutes, or until the pastry is golden and the apples cooked. Take the tart out of the pan and let it cool on a rack.

It is important for the success of this recipe to bake the tart for a long time at a relatively moderate temperature, not above 325°F (160°C), on a rack placed in the upper third of the oven.

It is also important to sprinkle a layer of flour on top of the pastry before arranging the apples in the pastry shell. The flour will prevent the juices from running over.

Pignoli Tart (Torta coi pinoli)

A crisp pastry shell with a creamy semolina filling speckled with crunchy pine nuts

From the original recipe by Pellegrino Artusi

In “La Scienza in Cucina e l’Arte di Mangiar Bene” 1891–Italy

Ingredients

For the pastry (Pasta frolla)

1-1/2 cup (200 g) flour

1 stick (100 g) unsalted butter
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar

1 large egg

1/2 tbsp (7.5 ml) white wine–or as needed

1 yolk to glaze and confectioners’ sugar to decorate

For the Filling

1/2 cup (100 g) medium semolina

1/3 cup (65 g) sugar

2 cups (500 ml whole milk

1/2 cup (50 g) pine nuts

1/2 tbsp (10 g) butter

2 eggs

1 pinch salt

1/2 tsp (2.5 ml) pure vanilla extract (or better, vanilla paste)

Preheat the oven to 375° F (190°C)

Make the pastry: Place flour and butter (cut into small dice) in the bowl of a food processor and pulse briefly until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Add salt, sugar and pulse briefly again, then add the egg well beaten and pulse to incorporate. Add a little wine, as needed, with the machine running, until the dough just comes together. It is important not to overwork the dough. Gather the pastry in a piece of wax paper and refrigerate.

Make the filling : Chop the pine nuts with a sharp knife–they should be the size of rice kernels. Do not use a machine to do this or the pine nuts will be ground too fine. Bring the milk (with a pinch of salt) to a boil and then add the semolina little by little, stirring to eliminate lumps. Cook the semolina on low heat for about 5-6 minutes–the mixture will be stiff and smooth. Stir continuously to avoid scorching. Take off the heat and add sugar and other ingredients except eggs. Set aside to cool. When the semolina is lukewarm add the eggs, well beaten, stirring vigorously to incorporate well, until the mixture is again smooth and creamy.

Assemble the tart: On a lightly floured surface roll 2/3 of the pastry (leave the rest in the refrigerator) to an 11-inch round 1/8-inch (3 mm) thick and line a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom with the pastry, pressing gently with your fingertips to cover sides and bottom of the pan.

Roll the remaining portion of pastry in an 11-inch square and cut into strips about 1/4-inch (0.5 cm) thick.

Pour the filling into the prepared pastry shell smoothing the surface with the back of a spoon. Make a lattice on top with the prepared strips. Brush the strips with yolk and bake the tart for about 1 hour.

The tart filling will be golden and raised, but will fall as the tart cools. Take the tart out of the pan and let cool on a rack.

Sift confectioners’ sugar on the tart once cold.