Ricotta Pie

My other dessert contribution to Easter dinner was on the more traditional side of things. My Mother in Law is Italian so Ricotta Pie was something that basically runs through her families veins. In an attempt to be an awesome daughter in law, I decided to try my hand at a ricotta pie.

After many Google searches, I combined a few recipes into one that included the traditional ricotta mixture but added semi-sweet mini chocolate chips, orange zest, lemon zest, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. The addition of the citrus zest certainly added some freshness while the chocolate chips aded another layer of decadent flavor. The result was a creamy, cool combo that even had my Italian in-laws raving about it. WINNING :)

Enjoy!

Ricotta Pie with Chocolate and Citrus



Crust
1 2/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/4 cup shortening
2 eggs, beaten

Filling
1 carton (15 ounce size) ricotta cheese
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1/4 teaspoon orange peel
1 dash salt
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/8 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

In a bowl, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder; cut in butter and shortening until mixture resembles small crumbs. Add eggs; stir until moistened and mixture forms a ball. Cover and chill for one hour. On a lightly floured surface; roll out dough to a 10 inch circle.

Place in a 9 inch pie pan and flute edges. Refrigerate. For filling; beat the ricotta, sugar, and flour in a mixing bowl. Add peels and salt; beat until smooth. In another bowl, beat eggs until thick and lemon colored; about 5 minutes. Slowly fold into ricotta mixture. Gently mix in remaining ingredients. Pour into the crust. Bake at 350 degrees F for 55-60 minutes or until pie tests done.

Caramel Apple Pie... x's 2!

I stumbled across this recipe while visiting the RI Nest page as I sometimes do to take a peak at what new recipes those fab women are cooking up. Everyone seemed to be raving about this pie so I figured I'd give it a whirl!

My Dad is a diabetic so with the amount of apples I had (two 1/2 pecks form a local farm stand!), I figured I'd make 2 pies and then have my future in-law's over for pie on Sunday evening!

Both pies browned up really nicely and tasted yummy however, they were both so watery... maybe it was the type of apples? Who knows! It certainly did not hurt the taste of the pie in anyway! It just made it more like an apple crisp once I scooped it out of the pie dish!

I did make some slight adjustments to the recipe... Beyond the switch of Spelnda for sugar, I did not have pumpkin pie spice so I did a 50/50 ration of cinnamon and nutmeg for that. And, for the apples... I used way more than 6 apples. I like an over filled pie and that's what these both endedd up being. I'd say that from the two 1/2 pecks we had, there were only 5 apples left!

I would make this pie again, just maybe with a different apple to type to see if I could reduce the wateriness... and maybe add more caramel on top for more of a punch!

Enjoy :)


Carmel Apple Pie
Adapted from the RI Nest board & their recipe site.



1/2 Cup(s) sugar (for the sugar free pie, I used Splenda)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoon(s) cornstarch
14-16 peeled cored apples -- aproximatley 5 pounds for a heaping pie (I used Macintosh)
1 Tablespoon(s) lemon juice
1 Teaspoon(s) rum or rum extract
9 " unbaked deep dish pie crust
6 Tablespoon(s) divided butter or margarine
3 Tablespoon(s) caramel ice cream topping
1/2 Cup(s) flour
1/3 Cup(s) brown sugar (for the sugar free pie, I used Spelnda brown sugar)


Mix sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and corn starch in a large bowl. Cut apples into 1/4" thick slices and place in a separate bowl. Sprinkle apples with lemon juice and rum; add to dry ingredients. Stir to combine. Place in pie crust. Dot with 2 tablespoons of butter. Drizzle with caramel sauce.

Stir flour and brown sugar together in small bowl. Cut in 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle evenly over top of pie.

Bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F and bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, until golden brown.

How ya feelin'? HOT HOT HOT!

So we have been having this incredibly hot weather here in Rhode Island... Feel like was 107 degrees today! Yowza! So on Sunday I wanted to make a dessert but was avoiding turing the oven on at all costs.

I remembered seeing something on the back of the Oreo pie shell regarding an Oreo ice cream pie but alas, I tossed the recipe. Thank goodness for Google & cooks.com! I found a comparable recipe and made a few adaptations (omitted the nuts & added some Oreo pieces to the ice cream filling). This pie is quick, easy, and so refreshing!

Enjoy!

Oreo Ice Cream Pie
(adapted from cooks.com)



1 pkg. Oreo cookies (lg.)
5 tbsp. melted butter
1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream, softened
1/2 tbsp. vanilla
1 (13 oz.) container Cool Whip
Chocolate
syrup

Crush Oreo cookies with rolling pin and reserve 1 cup of crushed crumbs. Combine remaining crumbs with melted butter and press into a greased 9 by 13 inch pan. Combine ice cream, vanilla, 1/2 of Cool Whip, and reserved Oreo crumbs. Place on top of crust and freeze until firm. After frozen, place a collop of cool whip on top and drizzle chocolate syrup.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Walnut Cookie Pie

Weew... that is a mouthfull! I again stumbled upon this recipe on Something Sweet... this is the same blog that I found the fabulous Strawberry Lemonade bars on!

After clicking over to the Hershey website, I found the original recipe and decided to follow it instead of just doing a strictly PB pie.

So I'm just about ready to stir in the peanut butter chips, chocolate chips, and walnuts when I realize that I doubled the amount of flour. Crap. What to do? do I scrap the batter and start again or double up the remaining ingredients and make not only a pie for dessert tonight, but some pie-cakes (aka: pour the batter into cupcake cups and see what happens!).

I chose to double up! I baked off the pie first (it took 55 minutes) and then popped in my 24 pie-cakes. They baked for 25 minutes and were nice and golden brown! They didn't rise at all so it'll be perfect to add in a bit of whipped cream or ice cream on top... after it's warmed up so the chips get soft!

This is such a yummy & quick dessert! I served the pie with whipped cream after heating each slice for 10 seconds. I'm sure it would be equally good with ice cream.

The only adaptation I made was that I chose to use a chocolate cookie crust instead of the graham cracker crust. It adds in a extra kick of chocolate & looks pretty too!

Enjoy :)


Peanut Butter and Milk Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie
(Hersheys.com)





Ingredients:
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs, beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Milk Chocolate Chips
1 cup Peanut Butter Chips
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1 unbaked 9-inch pie crust
Sweetened whipped cream or ice cream (optional)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350°F.

2. Beat butter in medium bowl; add eggs and vanilla. Stir together sugar and flour; add to butter mixture. Stir in milk chocolate chips, peanut butter chips and nuts; pour into unbaked pie crust.

3. Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until golden brown. Cool about 1 hour on wire rack; serve warm with sweetened whipped cream or ice cream, if desired. 8 to 10 servings.

I'm coconuts for my Mom!

This pie was truly a labor of love... I decided to take a stab at my first ever Coconut Cream pie for my Mom for Mother's Day. Both my Mom & I salivate at anything with coconut in it! There is this small diner back home in MD called Gleasons that makes the BEST pies and on our recent trip back, the coconut cream was not ready. Needless to say, we've been hankering it since then!

However, I was really unaware of the extended period of time it took to make this pie! And let me tell you, it was mighty tough to not dig in to the bowl of filling prior to the pie assembly! But we persevered and let me tell you, it was so worth it! The filling is smooth and creamy and the topping has a small hint of coconut!

The only changes to this recipe I made are that I subbed in some coconut milk for the regular milk in the filling... I think it really gave it another punch of coconut.

Enjoy!

Coconut Cream Pie
(Adapted from epicurious.com)



Filling
1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 cups whole milk
¾ cup coconut milk
2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/16 teaspoon coconut extract
Topping
2/3 cup sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/4 cups chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon coconut extract

For filling:
Whisk 1/2 cup sugar, eggs, egg yolk, and flour in medium bowl. Bring milk and coconut to simmer in medium saucepan over medium heat. Gradually add hot milk mixture to egg mixture, whisking constantly. Return to same saucepan; cook until pastry cream thickens and boils, stirring constantly, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Mix in vanilla and coconut extracts. Transfer pastry cream to medium bowl. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface to prevent formation of skin. Chill until cold, 24 hours. Transfer filling to crust. Cover; chill overnight.
For topping:
Toast coconut in heavy small skillet over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Cool completely.
Using electric mixer, beat cream, sugar, and coconut extract in medium bowl until peaks form. Spread whipped cream all over top of filling. Sprinkle evenly with toasted coconut. (Can be prepared 4 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate.) Serve cold.