Pumpkin & Chai Spice Nut Butter Pie

Durham's Big Spoon Roasters did not yet exist when I lived on the Carolina Piedmont. Since I moved away, though, I've heard murmurs about the handcrafted nut butters from various food sites and magazines and friends who can't get enough of the stuff and I wondered how I too could get my hands on a few jars. As I was browsing the Big Spoon website, deciding which of the flavors--from Chai Spice to Peanut Cocoa I most wanted, I realized that the nut butters--those two in particular would make perfect pie ingredients.



So I emailed the owner Mark to tell him my idea, and the next week, a box showed up on my door with those two flavors packaged inside. Though the Chai Spice--a peanut and almond butter with local wildflower honey, salt, and chai spices-- could make a delicious pie filling almost all by itself (or in a Chocolate & Peanut Butter Pretzel Tart or a Peanut Butter Banana Cream Pie or... the possibilities are endless--stay tuned!), I decided to start with the seasonal and perhaps unsuspected pairing of pumpkin. Chai spice and pumpkin pie spice are kissin' cousins as is, and I thought the smooth pumpkin and slightly grainy nut butter would compliment each other's textures and flavor well. I had also done a similar butter 'n' orange-veggie in this Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie, adapted from a Pumpkin-Nutella version from Sally's Baking Addiction.

The duo got along just splendidly, the nut butter adding a hint of honey and a darker, richer flavor to the fairly standard pumpkin pie base. The consistency was thick and hearty, a substantial slice that would also work well substituting sweet potatoes for the pumpkin purée. Though I added bourbon to my whipped cream, in my humble opinion it never hurts to throw in a dash in the pie itself. This recipe is definitely in the running for what will be on my dessert table this coming Thanksgiving, though I've yet to bake with that Peanut Cocoa butter...

You can check out where you can buy Big Spoon Roasters nut butters near you here, and if there's nowhere close, you can also order online.

 Pumpkin & Chai Spice Nut Butter Pie

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House Pie Crust, halved
2 c. (15 oz.) pumpkin purée, canned or fresh (sweet potato purée would also be delicious)
3 large eggs, lightly whisked
1/2 c. heavy cream
1/2 c. light brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. Big Spoon Roasters' Chai Spice Nut Butter

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Let chill for 15 more minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add pumpkin purée, whisked eggs, heavy cream, brown sugar, spices, and salt and mix well to combine. Add the Chai Spice nut butter and stir just until incorporated.

3. Pour filling into the chilled pie crust and distribute evenly using a rubber spatula. Bake 40-45 minutes until filling is well-set. Let cool and once at room temperature, chill pie until you're ready to serve. Serve chilled or at room temperature with a dollop of bourbon whipped cream.

Related Recipes:
Drunken Pumpkin Bourbon Pie with Mascarpone Cream
Pumpkin Ginger Cheesecake Pie
Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie

The Friday Pie Slice

I've been negligent in serving up these slices. But it's a new month and new beginning--happy November!

1st slice. My Pentagram Pie (see below) was featured on The Hairpin this past week, with an expanded post--now with more jokes! Halloween may be over but pentagrams never go out of season.

2nd slice. As we turn the corner into the biggest pie month of the year, some great recipes are popping up in the blogosphere, like this Butternut Squash & Brie Galette from Happyolks and Homesick Texan's Sweet Potato Cobbler.

3rd slice. A few weeks ago I stopped by the St. Mary Armenian Apostolic Church's 65th Annual Fall Food Festival here in DC for a story & accompanying video for American Food Roots, not to mention a delicious lunch of stuffed grape leaves and cheese pies.

The tasty crumbs. There's a great new drink magazine on the block called PUNCH and my dear friend Lora Smith is one of the contributors. Read her piece on growing up in a Kentucky bootlegging town here.

Photo of Cake vs. Pie swag by Emily Wallace for the Southern Foodways Alliance Annual Symposium

Pentagram Pie

My friend tells me that every hipster in Carrboro, North Carolina has a pentagram tattoo these days, so maybe it sounds trite when I say that I have an affinity for the pentagram. In the Tarot, the pentagram, or pentacles, correspond with the Taurus sign astrologically (along with Virgo and Capricorn--the other Earth signs) and in general the symbol is associated with Earth, craft, the accumulation of knowledge, physicality, and tradition. It represents stability and grounding forces and seems to appear more than any other suit in my readings. Then of course, there's also the British folk band Pentangle, one of my favorites.

Last year for Halloween, I went as the Queen of Pentacles, and carried along this occult sacrament of a Pentagram Pie for all the witchy revelers. I used a sweet potato filling for seasonality, color and because I thought it would support the crust design well. For the pentagram, cut 5 long strips out of dough and arrange them in the form of a 5-pointed star across the pie. You can weave them through like a lattice, if desired. Serve and summon the spirits.



Sweet Potato Pentagram Pie
Adapted from Cheryl Day's Back In The Day Bakery Cookbook

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust
1 1/2 lbs. sweet potatoes (1-2 taters), cooked, peeled, and mashed
1 c. heavy cream
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 Tblsp. sorghum or blackstrap molasses
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
1 Tblsp. unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. cardamom
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/4 tsp. mace
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. sea salt

Directions
1. Prepare Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out the bottom crust (half of the dough) and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Pierce the bottom of the shell all over with a fork, and let chill for 15 more minutes in the fridge. Return the other half of the crust to the fridge. 

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place mashed sweet potatoes in a large mixing bowl. Add the heavy cream, eggs, and sorghum or molasses and whisk until fully incorporated.

3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugars, flour, cardamom, cloves, mace, ginger, and salt. Add to the sweet potato mixture and stir until smooth.

4. Pour the filling into the pie crust. Roll out your top crust and cut 5 long strips of the dough. Arrange them over the filling in the shape of a pentagram, weaving some strips under as you would for a lattice top, if desired. Brush crust with an egg wash and bake for 40-50 minutes until the filling is form around the edges but still jiggles slightly in the center when you shake it. Let cool completely.

Instagram by @abrakebarbara from last year's Halloween party at Blood Manor

Related recipes:

Fannie Farmer's Sweet Potato Pie

Sweet Potato Speculoos Pie

Sweet Corn Custard Pie with Tomato Jam

I grew up with corn all around me, but I was allergic. To corn and milk and grass and dust--a tough diagnosis for a Midwestern girl. At a certain point of my childhood, though, the doctor declared me free of some of these allergens, corn included, and the first time I ever had corn on the cob, I overzealously ate the whole thing, cob and all. At my grandmother's house, we played hide and seek in the stalks with the farm boys down the road, and though we weren't really a casserole family, when I got a recipe from a classmate's mother for corn pudding, it became my signature dish at holidays and family gatherings.

I haven't lived in the Midwest since college, but I have an inkling there's something going on there amidst the corn fields and dairy farms. Organic farms, distilleries, and local restaurants are popping up, native seeds are being saved, heirloom crops are being grown again, and people are taking pride in Midwestern food. Perhaps in all of that there's a small dose of nostalgia, faux or real, that our generation is inclined toward, but this revival moves way beyond the casserole dish.



One of the women who seems to be part of that movement is Paula Haney of Chicago's Hoosier Mama Pie Company. When I had a chance to sit down with her earlier this spring, she talked about her motivations in starting her bakery, a primary one being to bring awareness and appreciation to the "poor foods" of the United States, specifically the Midwest (read more from our conversation here).

Paula's new cookbook, The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie does just that, while also being a great go-to resource of traditional and creative pies for any home baker, offering seasonal recipes from classic Cherry to Red Line Espresso Cream.



The first recipe I tried was this Sweet Corn Custard Pie with Tomato Jam. Maybe part of my selection was guided by a Midwest nostalgic pang for the corn puddings of my youth, but the dessert is also unique and different, a new take on tradition. It also just seemed to be a good place for an (eventually) corn-fed Hoosier like myself to start.

The pie is a dream and a bit of a sleeper hit, but it's a delightful surprise when you slice it to reveal the light creamy custard speckled with fresh corn kernels. It's a sweet with a touch of savory, especially with the spicy sweet tomato jam drizzled atop.

Sweet Corn Custard Pie with Tomato Jam
Adapted from The Hoosier Mama Book of Pie

For the pie:
Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust, halved
1 1/2 c. fresh sweet corn kernels
1 1/3 c. heavy cream
1/3 c. whole milk
1/2 c. + 2 Tsp. granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla paste
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch fresh ground black pepper
Pinch nutmeg
4 large egg yolks
2 large egg whites

Directions
1. Prepare half of the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions, reserving the leftover egg for an egg wash. Chill dough at least 1 hour before rolling out and fitting into a greased and floured 9-inch pie pan. Pierce the bottom of the shell all over with a fork, and let chill for 15 more minutes in the fridge. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 325.

2. Place 3/4 c. of the corn kernels, 1/3 c. of the heavy cream, milk, and sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Pulse 2-3 times until the corn is finely chopped.

3. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl. Stir in the remaining 1 c. of the heavy cream, vanilla paste, salt, black pepper, and nutmeg. Add the egg yolks one at a time. Stir in the remaining 3/4 c. of the corn kernels.

4. Whip the egg whites into soft peaks and fold into the corn mixture in 2 additions.

5. Pour the filling into the pie shell and bake immediately for 50-55 minutes until the edges of the pie are slightly puffed and the custard moves in 1 piece when the pie is gently shaken. 

6. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the fridge overnight before slicing. Serve with tomato jam.

For the tomato jam:
Ingredients
1/2 c. + 2 Tblsp. granulated sugar
4 pinches cayenne pepper
4 pinches fresh ground black pepper
2 pinches kosher salt
Juice of 1 orange
Juice of 1 lemon
20 cherry tomatoes, halved

Directions
1. Combine the sugar, spices, salt, orange juice, and lemon juice in a medium saucepan. Remove any stray citrus seeds.

2. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the mixture comes to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture has thickened slightly. 

3. Gently toss the tomato halves into the hot mixture. Continue to simmer until the mixture becomes thick and syrup like, about 30 minutes. 

4. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature. Serve with the Sweet Corn Custard Pie.



Related recipes:
Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie
Kentucky Lemon Chess Pie
Maple Bourbon Buttermilk Pie
Sweet Tea Pie

Jenny McCoy's Fresh Fig Tartlets with Goat Cheese & Red Wine Syrup

This past Spring I wrote a blog series for the Southern Foodways Alliance called "Give Me Some Sugar" on Southern women pastry chefs. Among the list of talented women I spoke to were Virginian-turned-New Yorker Christina Tosi of Momofuku Milk Bar, Phoebe Lawless of Durham's Scratch Bakery, and Dolester Miles of Birmingham's Bottega, who recently wowed attendees at the SFA 2013 Symposium with her toasted cornmeal pound cake. One chef I sadly missed is Jenny McCoy. Jenny comes from a long line of Alabama natives, and along with her work in pastry and teaching at the Institute of Culinary Education, she's also a writer, contributing to Serious Eats and The Huffington Post. She also just released a beautiful new cookbook Jenny McCoy's Desserts for Every Season.

The book is arranged seasonally, with the likes of Meyer Lemon and Pistachio Tarts and Moonshine Eggnog in the Winter, Rhubarb-Rose Water Crumble & Cherry Cola Sorbet in the Spring, and Peach and Sweet Corn Ice Cream Cake in the Summer. For Autumn, Jenny is sharing with us her Fresh Fig Tartlets with Goat Cheese & Red Wine Syrup. She says that the recipe came about when she was baking for the 10th Anniversary Celebration at Craft in New York City. When she and pastry chef Claudia Fleming couldn't agree on a dessert, they let guests create their own in a dessert buffet of tart shells, fillings, and fruits. Figs with goat cheese cream and red wine syrup was her favorite combination.

But as they say in Reading Rainbow, you don't have to take my word for it! Find that fig tart recipe below, and check out the cookbook, and Jenny's website and twitter here and here.

Blueberry Buckle

Portions of this upcoming post originally appeared in the piece "Cobbled Together: American Fruit Desserts" on NPR's Kitchen Window, which you can find here. 

I've been making this Blueberry Buckle recipe for about 8 years now. I first made it at my friend Jamie's family cottage in Maine, the summer after I'd graduated from college. In anticipation of my trip, my dad had mailed me a copy of the Cook's Illustrated recipe, and on Mt. Desert Island, we acquired fresh wild blueberries and whipped up the buckle in the vintage blue and white cottage kitchen. Since there were only the two of us there, we left most (okay half) of the buckle in the freezer for Jamie's parents, and I think it's the reason they've continued to invite me back. 

The buckle is the most distant cobbler relative, as it has a cake-like base, rather than a biscuit or pastry crust. The name comes not from shoes, but the fact that it "buckles" under the weight of all the fruit and  buttery crumble top. Though these recipe uses a dense almost cookie-weight batter, it does indeed fall a bit in the middle, but that's the berries' fault, not the baker's, and the glut of fruit is what makes it special. Blueberries are classic buckle ingredients, but any type of berry will work--now that we're past blueberry season, try it with fall-bearing raspberries, or anything you put away in the freezer. The addition of the crumble top yields a coffee cake-esque treat that's equally good for breakfast or dessert.

Blueberry Buckle
Adapted from Cook's Illustrated July/August 2005

Ingredients
For the buckle:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
10 Tblsp. (1 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
2/3 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
Zest from 1 lemon
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
4 c. blueberries, low or high-bush, preferably fresh, though frozen will also work

For the streusel:
1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. light brown sugar, packed
2 Tblsp. granulated sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. salt
4 Tblsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into chunks

Directions
1. For the streusel topping, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, sugars, spices, and salt until well combined. With a wooden spoon, stir in the chunks of butter, then work butter into the dry ingredients with your hands until the mixture resembles wet sand. Set aside on the counter while you prepare the rest of the buckle.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9-inch cake pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, then grease and flour the paper and sides of the pan. In a small bowl, whisk together flour and baking powder and set aside.

3. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugar, salt, and lemon zest until combined and fluffy. Beat in vanilla and add eggs one at a time, beating until incorporated. Gradually add the flour mixture while the mixture is on low speed. Mix well to combine, but do not overmix. Batter will be thick. With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the berries until incorporated.

4. Pour filling into the greased and floured pan, spreading evenly. Scatter streusel top over the buckle batter. Bake about 50-60 minutes, until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool on a wire rack and serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Related recipes:
Apple-Raspberry Pandowdy
Blueberry Icebox Pie
Peach-Blackberry Cobbler
Plum-Cherry Crumble

The Friday Pie Slice

1st slice. I spent the past few days baking, talking shop, and running about town with the lovely and inspiring Kate Lebo (pictured above), whose volume of poetry, recipes, and ephemera A Commonplace Book of Pie is fresh off the presses! Catch the fun trailer for the book here.

2nd slice. Though it came out a few month's back, my friend Lora just reminded me of artist Debbie Grossman's My Pie Town, a reimagining of Russell Lee's 1940 photographs of Pie Town, New Mexico, that plays with gender, history, and notions of Americana. Very cool.

3rd slice. Ashley Melzer and I were pleasantly surprised this week when Garden & Gun listed our short doc The Wharf, about DC's Maine Ave. Fish Market in their list of five favorite Southern Foodways Alliance Greenhouse films! Honored to be included in this fine company.

The tasty crumbs. "I think food is so amazing because it's such a powerful voice. But it really brings to voice the once-silenced voices. I think of the women who all through time in Southern history, their hands and minds have really deeply shaped Southern cuisine." My mentor and UNC American Studies professor Marcie Ferris, talking women's influence on Southern food on last weekend's episode of The Splendid Table.

Apple-Raspberry Pandowdy

Portions of this upcoming post originally appeared in the piece "Cobbled Together: American Fruit Desserts" on NPR's Kitchen Window, which you can find here. 

"Shoofly pie and apple pandowdy makes your eyes light up, your tummy say howdy!" my dad used to sing to me, a nod to his Pennsylvania upbringing. But I'd never ate a pandowdy or let alone knew what it was, until I was researching it a few weeks ago for the Kitchen Window piece. My research yielded some information, though the origins of the strange name are still unclear (though I do have a query into the Library of Congress about it, so stay tuned...). Some consider "dowd-y" to be a variation of the word "dough," and others conjecture that it descended from the term "pandoulde," a regional British word for custard. 

What we do know is that the pandowdy has New England roots and can be made with either typical pie dough or a biscuit crust.  It's a very close relative to the cobbler, though it varies in two distinct ways: Molasses is used to sweeten the fruit, and just before it's finished baking, the crust is sliced or crumbled into pieces and mixed with the fruit juices to create dumpling-like morsels scattered among the thick filling. For those of you paralyzed by the task of making the perfect-looking crust, the pandowdy may just be your dessert. You'll spoon the filling over it anyway, so who cares what it looks like?

Traditionally, pandowdy was made with apples, but I threw in some raspberries to add tartness and take advantage of the fall-bearers. Try using late-summer or early-fall apples like Gravenstein, Northern Spy, or Benhams-- a variety popular in Kentucky and Virginia. The result is an earthy dessert with a rich, hearty flavor (you should be a molasses lover). It pairs well with a lightly-spiced ice cream, like cardamom, or just plain vanilla. I like to bake mine in a cast iron skillet, but if you don't have one, a pandowdy can be made just as well in a 8- or 9-inch square or round baking dish.

Apple-Raspberry Pandowdy

Ingredients
For the biscuit top:
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 Tblsp. granulated sugar + 1 tsp. for sprinkling
1 Tblsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
3/4 c. whole milk

For the filling:
5 apples (about 2 lbs.) cored and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
1 c. raspberries
2 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
1/3 c. molasses
1/3 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Directions
1. For the biscuit top, in a medium bowl whisk together flour, 1 Tblsp. sugar, baking powder, and salt. With a knife and fork or pastry cutter, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles cornmeal and peas. Add milk and stir gently to combine. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the fridge for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine apples, berries, flour, molasses, sugar, and lemon juice. Stir in cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and salt. Pour filling into a 9-inch cast iron skillet. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes.

3. While filling is baking, on a clean, floured surface, roll out the biscuit dough into a 9-10-inch circle. Set aside.

4. Once filling has baked, remove from oven and cover the filling with the biscuit dough, tucking any overhang into the sides of the skillet and sprinkling with the remaining teaspoon of sugar. Return to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes more, until biscuit dough is light golden and filling is bubbling.

5. Remove from the oven and with a sharp knife, cut biscuit top into squares. Spoon some of the steaming filling over the biscuit and return to oven to bake 5-10 minutes more. Remove from oven and let cool. Serve slightly warm.

Related recipes:
Cranberry-Lime Galette
Peach-Blackberry Cobbler
Plum-Cherry Crumble

"A Commonplace Book of Pie" Reading & Tasting

This evening Seattle poet, pie baker, and Pie School founder Kate Lebo and I will be hosting a reading & pie tasting at Trohv DC. Kate will be reading from her new book A Commonplace Book of Pie, we'll talk feminism, domesticity, and pie, and then serve some! Kate and I have been discussing our ideas on these topics for a while now, we're so excited to share this conversation (and pie) with others. You can find more info via Trohv's facebook invite here. Hope to see you!

The Friday Pie Slice: Fall Equinox Edition

My most favorite time of year is almost here. I know that spring is traditionally the season of reawakening, but I tend to feel most invigorated in the fall. I'm back home, reconnecting with friends, digging into  some new projects, and getting back into the kitchen. Here's a few of the things I'm working on, and others' work I'm excited about.

1st slice. My copy of Hoosier Mama's Book of Pie arrived in the mail this week. Can't wait to try out ALL the recipes, starting with the Fat Elvis Pie, I reckon, which I'll be sharing soon. In the meantime, read about my visit to the Chicago pie shop and get the recipe for Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie here.

2nd slice. This coming Wedesday, Kate Lebo, Seattle pie baker, poet, and author of A Commonplace Book of Pie and I are doing a reading and pie event at Trohv DC. We'll chat about domesticity and feminism and pie, and of course, serve some too. Details here.

3rd slice. This weekend my grad school thesis advisor and all-around heroine Marcie Cohen Ferris & Southern Foodways Alliance's John T. Edge will be on The Splendid Table talking the role of women in Southern food. Tune in!

The tasty crumbs. For your listening pleasure, I made a Fall Equinox mix of some favorite American and British folk songs (-ish). Have a listen this weekend when you're putting up apple butter or driving to the orchard or sitting on your butt on the porch drinking a hard cider. Find it on my music blog, The Everchanging Minstrel.

Illustration by Jessica Lynn Bonin from Kate Lebo's A Commonplace Book of Pie, Chin Music 2013

Plum-Cherry Crumble

Portions of this upcoming post originally appeared in the piece "Cobbled Together: American Fruit Desserts" on NPR's Kitchen Window, which you can find here.

Next up in the cobbler family--the crisp (or crumble, as it's called in England), whichever you call it, it's the cobbler's thrifty cousin, sporting a simple crumbled top of sugar, flour, butter and sometimes oats or nuts. All of that is simply scattered over a fruit filling — a great choice for the crust-fearing baker. Of course, you can easily turn this into a pie or tart with the addition of a bottom crust. My mom's Crumble Top Apple Pie (made with Northern Spies, of course) is one of my favorites and this Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Tart has become a go-to recipe.

Though unless you've stockpiled some tart cherries in cans or freezer bags, you'll likely have a hard time getting your hands on tart cherries this time of year. But this crumble recipe would work well with any kind of stone fruit for a dark, rich and smooth filling, that's made sweet and crunchy by the buttery almond crumble top.

Plum-Cherry Crumble

Ingredients
For filling:
2 c. tart cherries, pitted
1 1/2 lbs. plums (about 4 c. or 9 plums), cut into 1/4-inch slices (or substitute your favorite stone fruit)
1 tsp. orange zest
1/3 c. brown sugar, packed
2 Tblsp. cornstarch

For crumble top:
3/4 c. sliced almonds
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 c. light brown sugar, packed
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 c. (1 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature, cut into 1/2-inch chunks

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl combine cherries, plums, orange zest, brown sugar, and cornstarch. Pour the filling into a 9x9-inch baking pan.

2. In a small bowl combine sliced almonds, flours, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in the butter and use your hands to form small clumps with the dry ingredients. Scatter crumble top over the top of the filling.

3. Bake 40-50 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Let cool and serve still warm.

Related recipes:
Peach-Blackberry Cobbler
Peach-Pecan Pie
Whole Wheat Plum Crumble Tart

The Friday Pie Slice

Inspired by Morgan, the genius at PandaHead, I'm serving up a new weekly series here on Nothing-in-the-House--The Friday Pie Slice! Each Friday, I'll post a round-up of pie and pie-relevant stories, links, and news from the past week. Expect historical articles and recipes, food events and interviews, music and art. If you've got something you think might be a good fit for The Slice, don't hesitate to get in touch. Got your plate? Let's eat!

1st slice. Check out Phoebe Lawless of Durham's Scratch Bakery (previously featured on the pie blog here and here) in the latest issue of Garden & Gun with recipes for 3 late summer pies and lovely illustrations to boot.

2nd slice. My pal April McGreger of Farmer's Daughter Brand Pickles and Preserves shares her preserve-making philosophy on A Chef's Life.

3rd slice. "Some made good pies, some made good applesauce. And some, made really good cider." Orchardist Lee Calhoun talks about his preservation of "old-timey apples" on WUNC.

The tasty crumbs. My friend and fellow folklorist Ashley Melzer and I just finished a short film for the Southern Foodways Alliance on DC's historic Maine Ave. Fish Market. If you watch closely, you'll notice that they do, in fact, sell pies there...

Illustration by Elizabeth Graeber from our book Pie: A Hand Drawn Almanac, available on Etsy

Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

In this next set of posts, I'll be introducing you (though you've likely already met) to some castoff members of the pie family. They're the distant cousins who show up late to every family function with their shirt untucked and hair a mess, but who once you get them going, make the party with their outrageous stories and ridiculous jokes. Yes, I'm talking about cobblers and crisps, buckles and pandowdies. Portions of these upcoming posts originally appeared in the piece "Cobbled Together: American Fruit Desserts" on NPR's Kitchen Window, which you can find here.

We'll start with the matriarch of this slapdash family--the cobbler. I didn't understand the dessert until I understood the word. A professional "cobbler" is often thought of as a shoemaker and repairman, but a true cobbler is only a mender of shoes. A cordwainer is the more masterful footwear maker.

A cordwainer would not want to be called a cobbler. And a delicately latticed pie would not want to be mistaken for the less artful dessert that's thrown or "cobbled" together with disparate bits of fruit and pastry. Though a cobbler may not be as pretty as a fresh pie or a new shoe, the result is just as functional, enjoyable and more economical, at least in terms of time and effort.

Cobblers appear in American cookbooks at least as far back as the mid-1800s, where they are described as a dessert or "luncheon" consisting of a biscuit or pastry dough and fresh fruit, often peaches. Though some boast a double crust, what characterizes the cobbler is the baked top crust that covers the sweet, bubbling fruit filling.

Cobblers are a wonderful way to experiment with combinations of summer fruits. I like to pair stone fruit and berries, as the tart berries provide the perfect counterbalance to the sweet tree fruit. This cobbler pairs peaches with blackberries, but you could easily substitute other seasonal fruits — nectarines, apricots or plums for the peaches and blueberries or raspberries for the blackberries. After all, you're cobbling it together. If the shoe fits, wear it.

Peach-Blackberry Cobbler

Ingredients

For the biscuit top:

1 ½ c. flour

1 Tblsp. granulated sugar, plus 1 Tblsp. for sprinkling

1 Tblsp. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

¼ c. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut in to ½-inch chunks

¾ c. whole milk

For the filling:

3 lbs. peaches (about 8 cups or 6-8 peaches) cut into 1/2-inch slices

1 c. blackberries (about 1 pint)

½ c. granulated sugar

2 Tblsp. light brown sugar, packed

3 Tblsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. salt

1 Tblsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. fresh ginger, grated

Directions

1. For the biscuit top, in a medium bowl, whisk together flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, baking powder and salt. With a knife and fork or pastry cutter, cut in the butter until mixture resembles the consistency of cornmeal and peas. Add milk and stir gently to combine. Form dough into a ball and cover with plastic wrap. Store in the refrigerator for at least 20 minutes while you prepare the filling. 

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine the peaches, berries, sugars, cornstarch, salt, lemon juice and ginger. Pour filling into a deep-dish, 9-inch (2 quart) glass oven-safe bowl, or an 11-by-7-inch baking pan.

3. Remove biscuit dough from the refrigerator and unwrap. Divide dough into 10 to 12 balls of equal size (an ice cream scoop works well for this) and spoon evenly over the filling. Sprinkle biscuit top with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

4. Bake for 55-65 minutes until biscuit top is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve warm with a scoop of ice cream.

Related recipes:

Quince Biscuit Pie

Surry County Peach Sonker with Dip

Peach Pie with a Sweet Basil Glaze

This morning, I went to church. It's something I rarely do, but today, Donna Schaper was up from the city and speaking at the one-room Presbyterian church here in Rensselaerville. From what Molly had told me about Donna's feminist ideals, involvement with Occupy, and the 29 books she's written, I wanted to hear her talk.

The sermon was about measurability and immeasurability and how they are not, in fact, opposites, but accomplices. She spoke of how both are useful;  that the measurable--how much we pay for something, how much salt we put in a recipe, or how much dosage of a medicine we are prescribed-- are necessary. But the immeasurable is what really matters-- what, when leading a moral or spiritual or religious life, is most important.

The sermon made me think of the pie baking lesson I gave this week. One of the LongHouse scholars, Sophia, had previously been through a pie making disaster the week before (though she is generally a wonder in the kitchen!) and asked me for help. So on Monday morning, we set up in Molly's blue kitchen, each with our own measuring cups, ingredients, and large mixing bowls. I gave Sophia the proportions of my pie crust recipe-- 2 cups flour, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 1 tsp. salt... and we started measuring and mixing.

But I also showed her what a crust should look like-- how it should feel as it comes together in your hands, when it's too dry or too wet or overworked, and when it's just right. I showed her how to transfer the dough to the pan by curling it up around the rolling pin (a favorite trick) and how to adapt recipes for other fillings and pies to come. 

In this case, both measurable and immeasurable were important, but it is the unquantifiable that will help her to become a confident life-long baker who can tweak recipes and add her own creative touch. As I responded to her questions and considered the best way to explain what "cornmeal and peas" looks like, I also found myself learning how to be a better teacher, but not in a way you could measure with teaspoon or tablespoon, cup or ounce.

While I made a classic peach pie, Sophia added fresh blueberries to hers. We brushed a sweet basil glaze on both and enjoyed them with the rest of the scholars after a Southern-inspired dinner of ham, soup beans, greens, and slaw.

Peach Pie with a Sweet Basil Glaze
Adapted from The New York Times Heritage Cookbook

Ingredients
For the pie:
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust
6 c. fresh peaches, peeled and sliced
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. fresh ginger, zested
1 tsp. salt
2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
Turbinado sugar, for dusting

For the glaze:
1 c. water
1 c. sugar
Handful fresh basil leaves

Directions
For the pie:
1. Prepare the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, roll out 1/2 of pie crust and fit into a 9-inch greased and floured pie pan. You can choose to roll out the top-crust now and refrigerate it flat, or roll it out once you've prepared the filling. Either way, you should put both the remaining crust and the pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Reserve half-egg yolk for the egg wash.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine peaches, lemon juice, flour, brown sugar, ginger, and salt. Pour filling into the bottom crust. Dot the top of the filling with 2 Tblsp. butter

3. To make the lattice, lay 5-8 strips parallel across the pie and fold back every other strip. Weave the same number of strips perpendicular to the first strips, alternating over and under. Trim strips so that they leave a 1-inch overhang. Fold bottom crust over the lattice and tuck the excess under. Seal and flute edges decoratively. Brush lattice with the leftover egg and dust with Turbinado sugar.

4. Bake until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling, approximately 40-45 minutes. Once done, remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Prepare sweet basil glaze, then brush on crust. Serve slightly warm with a scoop or two of vanilla ice cream.

For sweet basil glaze:
1. In a small saucepan, combine sugar, water, and basil. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium, and let simmer until syrup becomes thick and coats the back of a spoon. Let steep for 15-20 minutes, then brush on pie crust.

Related Recipes:

Peach-Pecan Pie

Peach-Bourbon-Ginger Hand Pies

Blueberry Hand Pies

For the past month, I've been working as the Director of the LongHouse Scholars Program, a food media internship in Rensselaerville, NY. My job is part curriculum developer, part camp counselor, part media editor, and part teacher. Mostly I've been setting up a lot of structure-- planning the weekly schedule, researching background for documentaries, and managing projects. In a way, I'm setting up the frame and canvas for the 9 scholars to paint within.

That role was also true, in a sense, for these blueberry hand pies. My coworker and LongHouse chef extraordinare Ame, asked me to make several batches of pie crust that we could freeze and use throughout the program. One night during dinner prep, two scholars, Thomas and Johnisha, used some of the dough to make dessert for the scholars and staff and our visiting guests-- Rod and Debra Smith of Smith Bites. Though I've sometimes missed being the one leading the creative direction, I've also learned that I love facilitating other's artistic work, whether you can eat it with ice cream or not.



Blueberry Hand Pies
Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House Pie Crust
4 c. (about 20 oz.) fresh blueberries
2 tsp. lemon zest
2 Tblsp. lemon juice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 large egg, whisked with 1 tsp. heavy cream
2 Tblsp. Turbinado sugar, for sprinkling

Directions
1. Prepare Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Once chilled, roll out dough onto a floured surface and cut into 12 rectangles of equal size. Place rectangles on parchment paper on a cookie sheet and return to chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. In a medium bowl, toss blueberries, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Remove cut dough from fridge and mound blueberry mixture into the center of each rectangle. Brush edges of rectangles with water, fold dough over filling, and press edges with a fork to seal. Brush hand pies with egg wash, sprinkle with sugar, and cut a steam vent in the top of each.

3. On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, bake hand pies for 35-45 minutes, rotating cookie sheet half-way through. Filling will be bubbling and crust will be golden brown when done. Transfer pies to a wire rack and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Related recipes:
Blueberry Icebox Pie
Peach Bourbon Ginger Hand Pies

Cracker Pie a.k.a. Mock Apple Pie

This piece originally appears in the The Runcible Spoon's SALT issue (vol. 3, issue 11). Pick up a copy of the saline DC food zine here.

When you see crackers in a pie recipe, you’re probably thinking crust—crushed graham crackers for Key Lime or Banana Cream, or maybe a saltine crust for the salty-tart Atlantic Beach Pie. But crackers in the filling? It doesn’t sound too appealing.

Turns out, though, that Cracker Pie, a.k.a. Mock Apple Pie, is a classic American recipe, dating back to at least the mid-1800s. It’s mentioned in an 1858 letter from Henderson, Texas resident Sue Smith to her friend Bet. She writes,

Bet I have learned to make a new kind of Pie I think you all would like them they taste just like an apple pie make some and try them see if you don’t love them… Take a teaspoon heaping full of tartarlic acid and dissolve it in water a teasp full of sugar and stir it in the acid then take cold biscuit or light bread and crumble in it.

A version also appears in the 1863 Confederate Receipt Book, and in Mrs. B.C. Whiting’s 1894, How We Cook In Los Angeles, listed as “California Pioneer Apple Pie, 1852.” Of the apple imitation-by-crackers, Whiting writes, "The deception was most complete and readily accepted. Apples at this early date were a dollar a pound, and we young people all craved a piece of Mother's apple pie to appease our homesick feelings." An 1870 version notes the pie as being “a good recipe for Spring use,” likely because apples were out of season then, and put-up or storage apple stocks had been emptied.

Whatever the reason for its invention, its creator was clearly an early molecular gastronomist, as the cream of tartar’s acidity allows the crackers to maintain their shape and breaks down their sugar into a form closer to that of apples. The lemon and cinnamon, two ingredients common to most apple pie recipes, fool your tongue-brain connection to think “apple!” instead of “cracker!”

Here’s a version of the recipe, which has been printed on the back of the Ritz cracker box since the 1930s. Now go see if you can trick your friends.



Cracker Pie a.k.a. Mock Apple Pie
Based on versions from Saveur and the back of the Ritz Cracker box c. 1935

Ingredients
Nothing-in-the-House pie crust
1 ¾ c. sugar
2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 Tblsp. lemon juice
Zest of 1 lemon
½ tsp. cinnamon
2 c. coarsely broken Ritz, Saltine, or soda crackers
2 Tblsp. unsalted butter, cubed
1 egg, beaten
Turbinado sugar, for dusting

Directions
1. Prepare the Nothing-in-the-House pie crust as per the directions. Chill dough at least 1 hour. Once chilled, roll out 1/2 of pie crust and fit into a 9-inch greased and floured pie pan. You can choose to roll out the top-crust now and refrigerate it flat, or roll it out once you've prepared the filling. Either way, you should put both the remaining crust and the pie pan in the fridge while you prepare the filling. Reserve half-egg yolk for the egg wash.

2. In a medium saucepan combine sugar, cream of tartar, and 1 ¾ c. water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, simmering for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and add lemon juice, zest, and cinnamon. Let syrup cool to room temperature while you fit bottom pie crust into a 9’’ pie tin.

3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Fill bottom shell with broken crackers and roll out top crust if you haven't yet already. Pour syrup over the crackers and dot mixture with butter cubes. Place top crust over the filling and flute edges to seal. Cut steam vents into the top of the pie, brush with the egg and sprinkle with Turbinado sugar.

4. Bake pie until the crust is golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let pie cool completely and serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or sharp cheddar.

Related recipes:
Apple Pie with Salted Caramel Glaze
Green Tomato Pie