Showing posts with label pies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pies. Show all posts
Monday, April 10, 2017
Mini VERY Berry Pies
Mini VERY Berry Pies

I can honestly say that I may have discovered a new favorite recipe for pie crust. Yup, thats right - pie. crust. In all of my baking life (....that would be approximately 33 years of such a life as I started baking at the young age of 8) I have always kept an eye out for a delicious, foul proof, FLAKY and easy recipe for pie crust. I have come across many a pie crust recipe that was either too dry, too difficult to make and even just plain old yucky tasting.
Because I have been brought up to share well with others I will be sharing this fabulous pie crust recipe with all of you....including a beautiful berry filling and lovely streusel topping. All of which will come together as Mini VERY Berry Pies!! Happiness.
My happiness all started when I found out my May assignment for the Secret Recipe Club. I was given the blog called, The Wimpy Vegetarian. Let me tell you there is NOTHING wimpy about Susans blog. It is packed with gorgeous food and brilliant recipes. I was honored and delighted to have spent this past month browsing through Susans recipes. She is truly a talented lady in the kitchen and has a long list of amazing accomplishments in the cooking world. I may just need to invite her over for tea the next time she ventures over to my neck of the woods. Susan, you are amazing and you are always welcome in my home!
I almost made Susans recipe for Peaches and Honey Frozen Yogurt as I would love a nice big bowl of frozen yogurt. I then switched gears and planned on making her lovely Kale and Cauliflower Tart with Cheddar Cheese Crust - oh my goodness, what a beautiful looking savory tart it is! But then all bets were off when I read through her recipe for Mini VERY Berry Tarts as I was intrigued with the crust. The pie crust is not only made in the food processor but it has CREAM CHEESE as one of the ingredients (along with butter, flour, salt, ice water and FRESHLY SQUEEZED LEMON JUICE!). And then as I read through ingredients for the streusel topping for the mini pies I discovered that GROUND FLAX SEED was tossed in with the oats, brown sugar, butter and flour. At the moment I have a tiny bit of an obsession over flax seeds. I like to add it to everything.
I was so pleased with how my mini pies came out. Not only did they look good but the crust was over-the-top dlish! Flaky. Yes, very flaky. And light not too dense at all. The filling was also quite good although I do think that once berries are in season here in Southern NH, the filling will be even better. I loved the streusel topping too. I poured in those ground flax seeds with delight over knowing that my girls would get some extra nutrition when they ate their pies. Happy mommy over here!
I made my pies in my favorite mini pie pans but Susan suggested making them in mini muffin pans. What a great idea as the recipe will provide happiness for many more people than just 4 hungry mouths.
Mini VERY Berry Pies
(recipe from The Wimpy Vegetarian)
Crust Ingredients:
1 1/3 cup flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp salt
6 Tbsps unsalted butter, cut into 6 slices, well chilled
2 Tbsps cream cheese, well chilled
2 Tbsps + 1 tsp very cold water
2 tsps. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Streusel Topping Ingredients:
1/4 cup quick cooking oats
1/4 cup ground flax seeds
1 Tbsp flour
pinch of Kosher salt
2 Tbsp firmly packed brown sugar
2 tsp cocoa nibs (which I omitted as I didnt have on hand)
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground cardamom
3-4 Tbsps unsalted butter, softened
Filling Ingredients:
2 Tbsps granulated sugar
2 Tbsps flour
pinch of Kosher salt
2 1/2 cups fresh berries, rinsed and dried (I used cut up strawberries and blueberries - Susan used blackberries and blueberries)
2 Tbsp cream cheese
1 Tbsp coconut milk
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. And then prepare pie crust. In the bowl of a food process add in flour, sugar and salt. Pulse all together for a couple of times. Add in chilled butter and cream cheese and pulse all together until slightly bigger than small pea sizes form - about 10-12 pulses. Drizzle in cold water along with the lemon juice as the food processor runs. Pulse just until the dough starts to come together forming moist crumbs that clump together.
2. Dump crust mixture onto a large piece of plastic wrap and form into a disc. Wrap disc tightly and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3. Prepare streusel topping. In medium size bowl combine oats, flour, ground flax seed, salt, cocoa nibs and spices until blended all together. Add in softened butter with a fork or pastry cutter. Mix and mash until all the ingredients are well blended and small crumbs form. Place topping into refrigerator until needed.
4. Take out the chilled disc of crust from refrigerator and allow to come to room temp as you prepare berry filling. In a large bowl add in flour, sugar and salt - mix all together. Add in 1 cup of berries and slightly mash them with a fork. Add in remaining berries along with cream cheese and coconut milk, making sure all ingredients are well blended together.
5. Roll out pie crust to desired size. If you wish to use a mini muffin pan a circle cookie cutter will come in handy to make the right size crust for all the muffin cups. No need to grease your pan or pie plates. Divide berry filling amongst your prepared pie crusts and then top evenly with streusel topping. Bake in preheated oven for 27-30 minutes - until crust is a golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cool for a good 15 minutes before serving. Vanilla ice cream goes nicely with these little treasures. Enjoy!
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Happy Mini VERY Berry Pies Baking!
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Sunday, February 12, 2017
Mini Pork Pies with Quails Eggs
Mini Pork Pies with Quails Eggs
Last month I mentioned that I tried hot water crust pastry for the first time. Quite a few of you have been wondering what I made. Well I decided to be brave and had a go at Paul Hollywoods small pork pies with quails eggs! If youve watched the Great British Bake Off, you will know that it was one of the technical challenges and has been on my to bake list for a while. I have to admit I was a little nervous and kept reading the recipe to make sure Id not missed anything. I can see why its a technical challenge - its not as simple as it looks! I followed his recipe exactly but found I had too much filling so I made another batch of the hot water crust pastry and baked 12 mini pork pies. You can of course make half the filling for 6 pork pies.
So what did I learn from this experience? I can make hot water crust pastry - yay! It was really simple and I followed the recipe exactly. However, as mentioned for this recipe I had to make 2 lots of pastry for the amount of filling stated. I might have to get a larger muffin tin or just halve the amount of filling. The part that I struggled with was sealing the lid of the pastry - I ended up using the top of a teaspoon to push it into the pie and to create a seal. You do have to work quickly with the hot water crust pastry as it dries out and hardens the longer you leave it, making it more difficult to mould. Im glad I made the batches of pastry one at a time instead of just doubling up the amounts. The other slight stumbling block was that the recipe said to make a hole in the centre of each pie - my pies were really full and there wasnt much space at all. The centre was where the quails egg was so the top of the egg got a little brown. In addiction, I could only get a small amount of gelatine mixture in but it worked and you can see it in the pie after its been chilled.
All in all it was a great learning experience and I am really pleased with the final result. J was most impressed and we still have a few left in the freezer for a rainy day. We had these pork pies with a salad on a weekend and it was perfect. I am definitely making these again particularly in the summer for picnics or packed lunches.
AlphaBakes hosted by me this month and co hosted by Caroline from Caroline Makes. The letter this month is Q for Quails eggs!

The pastry challenge hosted by Jen from Jens Food and Lisa from United Cakedom. The theme this month is picnics and thes mini pork pies are easily transportable plus you can bake them in advance.

Simply Eggcellent hosted by Dom from Belleau Kitchen. The theme this month is savoury.

Treat Petite hosted by Stuart from Cakeyboi and Kat from The Baking Explorer. The theme this month is Eurovision. These pork pies are very British and they are mini versions.

Tea Time Treats hosted by Jane from The Hedgecombers and Karen from Lavender and Lovage. The theme this month is Sandwiches, Wraps and Rolls. These are a sneaky entry but they definitely fit the savoury theme!

Biscuit Barrel challenge guest hosted by Alexandra from The Lass in the Apron on behalf of Laura from Id Much Rather Bake Than ... The theme this month is Party and these are definitely great for parties.

Bake of the week hosted by Helen from Casa Costello.

Recipe of the week hosted by Emily from A Mummy Too.
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Cook Blog Share hosted by Lucy from Supergolden Bakes.

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