Showing posts with label pies. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pies. Show all posts

French Silk Pie


Ingredients:

For the crust:
375g (or 3 cups) all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon table salt
300g (or 1½ cups) vegetable shortening
5 tablespoons cold water
1 large egg
1 tablespoon white vinegar
1000g (or 2 pounds) dry, uncooked rice (or baking beans)
For the filling:
120g (or 4 ounces) dark chocolate
226g (or 1 cup) salted butter, at room temperature
300g (or 1½ cups) granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large eggs
For the chocolate curls:
90g (or 3 ounces) dark chocolate
1 tablespoon vegetable shortening
For the whipped cream:
180ml (or ¾ cup) whipping cream
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Directions:

1. Start with the crust:
Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Stir together to combine. Using a pastry cutter, work the shortening into the flour until there are pea- to hazelnut-sized pieces of shortening visible in the dough.
Add the water, egg and vinegar and, using a wooden spoon, stir until the dough comes together.
Divide the dough in two equal chunks, shape the chunks into flat discs and wrap each disc in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge to chill for about one hour.
In the meantime, preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F (standard oven setting) and place an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven. Once the dough has chilled, roll it out between two lightly floured pieces of baking parchment until it’s about 30-cm/12-inches in diameter. By rolling it between two sheets of baking parchment, the dough is less likely to stick.
Gently peel the top sheet of parchment off of the dough, then lightly flour the dough and place the parchment back on. Flip the dough (including the two pieces of parchment), peel the other piece of parchment off the dough and lightly flour this side of the dough too.
Carefully transfer the floured dough to a 9-inch pie dish, allowing it to ‘fall’ into the dish, instead of pushing the center of the dough down. Fold the overhanging dough underneath the dough to form the pie crust. Crimp the edge to make the crust look pretty. 
Crumble up a large piece of baking parchment. Smooth the parchment out again and use it to line the pie crust. Snug the lining right up against the edges and sides of the crust. Fill the parchment with the uncooked rice or pie weights. Make sure the rice covers the bottom and presses against the sides of the crust. This will ensure that the bottom of the crust won’t rise and the sides won’t collapse.
Bake the crust for about 15-20 minutes, or until the edges are light golden.
Remove the pie crust from the oven and remove the pie weights (the rice) by lifting the parchment out of the pie dish by its four corners. Transfer the rice to a plate to cool.
Place the crust back in the oven for another 5-7 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust has turned a golden brown.
Once baked, remove the crust from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Once the crust has cooled, proceed with the filling:
In the bowl of a double boiler, melt the chocolate until stirrable. You can also melt the chocolate in the microwave (it’s actually easier). Allow the chocolate to cool to body temperature.
In the meantime, combine the butter and sugar in a large bowl. Mix together until fluffy. This should take about two minutes. Add the cooled (but slightly warm) chocolate and the vanilla and mix again for two minutes.
Add the first egg and mix for exactly five minutes with your mixer set to medium-speed. After the five minutes, add the second egg and mix for another five minutes. Once the egg is properly mixed in, so after the five minutes, mix in the third egg, mixing for another five minutes. Finally, add the fourth egg and, again, mix for five minutes until the mixture is fluffy, smooth and cloudy. When you rub some of the mousse between your fingers, you should no longer feel any sugar crystals.
Plop the mousse into the cooled pie crust, smooth the it out and place the pie in the fridge for at least two hours.

3. In the meantime, make the chocolate curls:
In the bowl of a double boiler, combine the chocolate and shortening. Heat until the shortening and chocolate have melted. Stir together.
Pour the melted mixture onto a flipped metal cookie sheet or baking sheet (so you’re pouring it onto the bottom). Spread the chocolate in a thin layer with a spatula and place the cookie sheet in the fridge until the chocolate mixture has set, about 15 minutes.
To test whether the chocolate is ready, do the fingerprint test. When you press your finger onto the chocolate, it should leave a slight mark, but not an actual depression.
Using a sharp-edged spatula, scrape the chocolate from the bottom of the pan. If the chocolate is too cold, it will crumble. In that case, allow it to warm up a little by leaving it for two minutes. If the chocolate is too warm, it will get too soft to curl. In that case, place it back in the fridge for a couple of minutes.
Scrape along the bottom of the pan until you have a plate full of curls. Place the curls in the fridge until use.
When you’re ready to serve, whip up the cream with the sugar. Pipe little cream roses along the edge of the pie and pile the chocolate curls into the center.

Pie Crust

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Directions:

1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again. Note that too much water will make the crust tough.
2. Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. If you want an extra flaky crust, shmoosh the dough mixture into the table top with the heel of the palm of your hand a few times. This will help flatten the butter into layers between the flour which will help the resulting crust be flaky. You can easily skip this step if you want. Gently shape the dough mixture into two disks. Work the dough just enough to form the disks, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
3. Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
4. Add filling to the pie.
5. Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

2 pre-made refrigerated 9 inch pie crusts link here
3/4 cup vegan butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8  of your favorite apples (peeled, cored and sliced)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Melt butter in saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste.
4. Fill crust with apples and cover with a lattice-work crust.
5. Pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust.
6. Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
7. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for an additional 35 minutes.

Mushroom, Spinach and Feta Pie

Ingredients:

2 small brown onions, peeled and chopped
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup of white wine
600g of mushrooms
150g of spinach
60g of Danish feta
4 sheets of frozen low fat puff pastry, defrosted
1 egg, beaten

Directions: 

Place a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the olive oil and onions. Cook the onions until golden.
Add the mushrooms, garlic and salt and pepper to taste, and cook until the mushrooms are softened before adding the white wine. Simmer in the wine for 10 minutes.
Add the spinach and cook until wilted and set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (355 Fahrenheit) and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof baking paper.
Cut the pastry into quarters. Top one quarter with the mushroom mixture and crumble a quarter of the feta on top. Top with one of the pastry quarters and press to seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining pastry and mixture.
Cut a small hole in the center of the top of each pie and brush with beaten egg.
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and puffed.
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