Nonna's Apple Pie

Practice makes perfect.  Although I may never make apple pie as good as Nonna did, I'm heading in the right direction.  I documented my trials with this pie on latent chestnut, and I think I have finally made it as well as I possible can.

In the latent chestnut post, I mentioned how a secret to success was using minute tapioca instead on small pearl.  I also found another recipe card that called for 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon instead of 2 tablespoons.  A huge difference.

Reducing the cinnamon turned out to be the final piece of the puzzle that is Nonna's apple pie recipe.  She didn't make it easy, but I can finally make the pie that takes me back to my childhood.

Apple Pie

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

5 or 6 medium sour apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
2/3 cups white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons minute tapioca
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon lemon juice (optional)

Directions
Mix all ingredients. Put in unbaked crust-lined pie tin. Dot with butter. Cover with pastry. Make fork holes in pastry. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then lower temperature to 350 degrees for 30 minutes more.

Pie Crusts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks butter

2 cups pastry flour

4 tablespoons cold water (1/4 cup)

Use pastry cutter until flour is crumbly (like corn meal). Add water. Stir well with fork; then with hands; form into two balls, one slightly larger for the top crust. Roll each ball on floured board to fit pie tin. Trim off excess crust with knife.

Moo-Less Chocolate Pie

Little did I know, my favorite chocolate pie I have been making for years is eerily similar to Aunt Sue's Incredibly Creamy Chocolate Pie I ate as a kid.  Although I remember her using carob in the filling, and I have only used chocolate to make this pie.  Still, resemblances remain, and I can't get enough of this pie.

This recipe first appeared on the "Tofuworld" episode of Good Eats back in 2001, and it's safe to say I have been making it ever since.  The semi-sweet chocolate chips allow the pie to be rich, while not too sweet, and the coffee liqueur adds a wonderful kick and depth of flavor.  Plus, the simplicity of the recipe makes it that much more appealing.

My one issue with this recipe is that it calls for 13 ounces of chocolate chips.  Seriously?  A standard bag of chocolate chips has 12 ounces.  I'm not going to buy another bag of chocolate chips just for one ounce.  So, I usually just use 12 ounces unless I have extra on hand, and I don't notice a difference.  I know that may sound trivial, but it has been bothering me for 10 years!

I'm glad I didn't let the 13 ounce anomaly stop me.  This pie is delicious as is, or with a little dollop of whipped cream; although, then it wouldn't be 'moo-less'.  Then again, what's wrong with a little 'moo' every once in a while?


Moo-Less Chocolate Pie
Printable recipe

Ingredients
13 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup coffee liqueur
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pound silken tofu, drained
1 tablespoon honey

1 (9-inch) prepared chocolate wafer crust, recipe follows

Directions
Pour 1 inch of water into a saucepan, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Melt the chocolate chips with the liqueur and vanilla in a medium metal bowl set over the simmering water, stirring often. Combine the chocolate mixture, tofu and honey in a blender and mix until smooth. Pour the filling into the crust and refrigerate overnight.

Chocolate Wafer Crust:
6 1/2 ounces chocolate wafer cookies
1 tablespoon sugar
3 ounces unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine cookies and sugar in a food processor and process until fine crumbs appear. Add the butter, pulsing to combine. Firmly press this mixture evenly into the bottom and up the sides a 9-inch metal pie pan. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely before filling.

Creamy Carob Pie

 

When I was a child, I remember my Aunt Sue making a carob pie.  I was always excited to open the refrigerator door to see the silky smooth pie sitting on the shelf.  When I found this recipe for Creamy Carob Pie, I thought that I found her recipe, and I was excited to try it.  As it turns out, this isn't the recipe she used, I could tell after the first bite.  Still, it was a fun exploration into carob tofu goodness.

Unfortunately, this recipe is not complete.  The instructions for the crust never made it to the back of the card, unless the crust consists of just two cups of crushed graham crackers.  Upon making the pie, I opted not to use the shredded coconut, carob chips, or chopped nuts, because I don't remember Aunt Sue's having those toppings.  Two teaspoons of ground cinnamon seemed like a bit much to me, too, so I used a little less.

One thing I should have done differently, even though the recipe told me otherwise, was to bake the pie crust before filling.  This resulted is a soggy crust from the get go, which only got worse as the pie sat in the refrigerator.  I also used silken tofu as my tofu of choice, since the recipe did not specify.  Overall, though, the pie was simple to assemble, and was ready in no time.

The flavor of the pie was very good, and there wasn't too much cinnamon, as I had feared.  The cinnamon gave the pie a nice subtle spice and the carob flavor was in the forefront, as would be suspected.  There was a fine grittiness in the pie, though.  I don't know if it was a result of the carob powder or the amount of cinnamon; and it took away from the sumptuous smoothness that the tofu brought to the party.  I found myself wondering if the coconut, carob chips, and nuts that I omitted would have hidden the grit by adding other textures to the pie.

Even if this recipe wasn't a complete success, I did end up with Aunt Sue's recipe for her carob pie.  Until next time, my friends!

Creamy Carob Pie

Printable Recipe

1 1/2 pounds tofu

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup sifted carob powder

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Shredded coconut (optional)

Carob chips

Chopped nuts

Blend ingredients until very smooth.  Pour into unbaked pie shell and bake at 425 degrees about 15 minutes.  Remove, sprinkle top with carob chips, nuts and coconut. 

Cherry Pie

 

Sometimes the simplest recipes are also the tastiest.  With only four ingredients, this cherry pie filling is sensational.  Cherries have been on sale recently, and they looked so good, I couldn't pass them up.  With a bag full of cherries at my disposal, I immediately went to this recipe.

The most tedious part was removing the pits from all the cherries.  But once that was done, the rest of it was easy as pie.  Literally!  I changed a couple things on the card by making my own pie crust and I used tapioca flour as the thickening agent.  I also went with a lattice top crust because I am a sucker for that presentation.

The pie was absolutely delicious.  The limited ingredients really allowed for the cherries to shine.  They were tart, perfectly balanced by the sweetness of the sugar.  It was like canned cherry pie filling only 100 times better (I did the math).  This is what pie is supposed to be. 

Cherry Pie
Printable Recipe

Pie Crust Mix
2 1/2 cups sour, pitted cherries (fresh or canned)
2/3 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour (or tapioca)
1/8 teaspoon salt

Mix cherries with sugar, flour and salt. If using canned cherries, drain the juice and decrease sugar to 1/3 cup. Pour over unbaked pastry, top with another pastry, bake in hot oven (425) until crust is browned and filling cooked. (About 35 minutes). Be sure to poke holes on top of pastry before baking.

Easy Zucchini Pie

 

Zucchini abounds in the summer here in Indiana.  I just finished a piece of zucchini bread, as a matter of fact.  It seems every time I turn around, someone is offering me a zucchini (or 10) from their garden.  Even as the drought and heat wave push on, it seems the zucchini plants have weathered the blow.

So far on Family Tree-Eats, I have posted recipes for zucchini casserole and zucchini bread, and that is about the extent of my zucchini making prowess.  Though grilled zucchini is quite delicious, brushed with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper.  When I saw this recipe for zucchini pie, I knew I had to try it once my zucchini cup began to runneth over.

I made this recipe even easier because I wanted the pie to be green.  I didn't peel the zucchini, nor did I take out the seeds because they were so small in the zucchini I had.  I also didn't boil the zucchini before blending with the other ingredients.  I pretty much ignored the first couple of lines on the recipe card, which didn't hurt the outcome of the pie one bit.

As far as the rest of assembly, it couldn't be easier.  Just blend, pour and bake.  Making the pie crust was the most difficult part.  I had to bake mine for about 35 minutes once I turned the oven down to 350 degrees, but that may have been because I didn't boil the zucchini before baking.

Besides the novelty of being green, this is one of the best pies I have made in a long time.   I sent some home with Julie and some with Angela and within a few hours I had a couple texts asking me for the recipe.  The pie is light, has a nice soft texture, and it delicately sweet.  It is reminiscent of sugar cream pie, but not nearly as rich.  A perfect summer pie.

Easy Zucchini Pie

Printable Recipe 

1 cup zucchini

1 cup sugar

1 cup Milnot milk

1 egg

1 1/2 tablespoon butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon vanilla

Peel zucchini and cut into pieces removing seeds and boil until tender.  Put all above in blender and blend well.  Pour into unbaked pie shell.  Sprinkle top of unbaked pie with cinnamon.  Bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, then 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until knife comes out clean.  Do not over bake.  Allow pie to cool completely before serving.

Banana Cream Pie

I had never made banana cream pie before, and when I saw this recipe, I figured now was the perfect time.  I liked the fact that this recipe called for tofu, as I have had success with tofu based pies in the past. 

This recipe did pose some problems though.  It looks short and sweet, but some important details are lacking.  My initial confusion came from the ingredient listing '1/2 Honey or Maple Syrup'.  I wasn't sure what measurement the '1/2' referred to, so I used 1/2 cup.  Looking back, that may have been a bit much, but it did not negatively affect the overall flavor of the pie.

I also used silken tofu, which is the tofu I used for the other tofu based pies I have made.  The silken tofu resulted in a very loose pie, so I will most likely opt for firm or very firm tofu in the future, so the pie will set up better.  One last thing I would do differently would be to add lemon juice to the pie to prevent the bananas from browning as quickly.  I made the pie in the morning, and by the time we cut into it in the afternoon, the filling almost looked like melted milk chocolate.  Not very visually appealing for bananas.

The overall pie experience wasn't all bad, though.  The pie has a wonderful flavor and is light and refreshing.  A perfect dessert on a warm spring or summer day.  I will take what I learned from this first experience and try again.  The flavor is there, I just need to work on the aesthetics.

Banana Cream Pie

Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 pound firm tofu

2 or 3 ripe bananas

1/2 cup honey or maple syrup

Vanilla (optional)

1 baked pie crust

Directions
Slice a banana and place on the bottom of the pie crust in a single layer.  Combine the tofu, bananas, honey and vanilla in a blender and mix until smooth.  Pour mixture into pie crust and refrigerate until set.  Add whipped cream, if desired.

Buttermilk Pie

I know here in Hoosier country sugar cream pie reigns supreme, but this buttermilk pie sure gives it a run for its money.  Smooth, rich, creamy, a little tart, and not too sweet, buttermilk pie does not disappoint.  My Grandma Ruth made this pie when I was a child, though I do not remember it.  The recipe has been in the family for years, and I am so glad to have it now.

My grandma gave it too me when I asked her if she had a good sugar cream pie recipe.  When I asked her, she scoffed a little and told me about her buttermilk pie.  Intrigued, I asked her if I could have it.  She gladly wrote it down, and I soon discovered a new favorite pie.

This pie is super easy to make.  I have modified the ingredient amounts a little to to account for one pie.  Other than that, I haven't changed a thing; nor do I need to. 

Buttermilk Pie

Printable Recipe

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 stick melted butter

1/4 cup flour

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

1 cup buttermilk

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix everything above real good with electric mixer.  Pour filling into an unbaked 9.5 inch pie shell.  Bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes, them 300 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes.  Cool completely before serving.