Posts Tagged ‘pie’

When people ask me what I love to bake most (or eat, it’s the same in this case), the answer is real simple - tarts! Desserts with a short crust base and a filling, any filling really, from pastry cream topped with fresh fruit, through chocolate or banana creamy fillings and even the simplest ones (a few weeks ago I’ve even made pear and ginger jam filled tartlets - wonderful!) can make me truly happy.

This time I chose a recipe by Carine Goren, a very talented Israeli pastry chef, whom I’ve mentioned at least once before. “Sweet Secrets”, a great cookbook she published a few years back, brought baking to the people. I mean this is the first book I’ve seen until then that was perfect in every way - its beautiful design, the stunning and mouth-watering photos it was rich with (I wonder how come not all the books today come out with such wonderful photography! For me it’s basics in a cookbook), and the most important thing - the clarity and simplicity with which all the recipes were written. You could really tell that’s she truly wants everybody to succeed in making her recipes. And succeed we did, I think that she’s the most praised book writer in Israel in the sense of the recipes’ quality.

And so is this tart. I haven’t yet met the persons that didn’t LOVE this tart and enjoyed every second of its first bite.  Using a good quality chocolate (I use Callebaut with 53% cocoa solids) will make the experience even greater.
I really enjoy giving sweet gifts to my friends, and this tart was made for Neta, a very good friend of ours, when she gave birth to little Noa. She really needed this sweet comfort after a long and not so easy childbirth.

Some notes and tips about this tart:

* The 2 remaining egg whites can be kept for a later use. Put them in a cup, cover with plastic wrap, write how many whites are in there (these things tend to be forgotten) and today’s date, and freeze them. They are kept great for 3-4 months, longer than that I haven’t tried.

* Short crust is not a great delight to roll out, it tends to stick to the surface it’s on, if not carefully floured, and too much flour doesn’t do it good as well. You have to options here:
1. The pretty one - roll it out. The method I find least painful is between two plastic wrap sheets, and the the rolling out part and moving it to the pan part get a lot easier.
2. The less pretty - use your hands. You can skip the rolling part and use your hands to place crust in the pan. Messier and less pretty, but it works. I use option 1 most of the times, and turn to option 2 when I feel really lazy.

* The crust’s margins are an important source of the tart’s beauty, in my eyes. So pay attention to them - and make sure that they are even throughout the whole tart, and make them quite thick (that also depends on the thickness of the crust you rolled out). If you need a little more dough for a corner there, look carfully and you’ll be able to find another corner to pinch from.

* Short crusts are sometimes baked apart from the filling - fully or partially, and in that case the filling is added to the crust and they are baked together for some more time. This process is called “blind baking“.

* Have you ever blind baked a crust and the base puffed up or the margins simply crashed into the bottom of the crust? 3 simple steps to solve these problems:
1. Make holes with a fork on the crust, after moving it to the pan.
2. Right after that place the pan with the crust in it in the freezer for 10 minutes.
3. Before baking, place a baking sheet on top of the dough and scatter “baking weights” on it - you can use relatively heavy legumes (like beans or chickpeas). The weights serve a double purpose here - they also press the crust down and prevent it from inflating, and also push the margins aside and prevent them from falling. See the picture below to have a feeling of how dense should the weights be.

* The tips about short crust I’ve given in my previous post are also valid here, so take a look.

Chocolate Tart / Carine Goren
For a 10 inch (26 cm) tart pan + 1 tartlet

Ingredients:
For the crust:
300 gr (2 packed cups) flour
200 gr butter, soft
100 gr powdered sugar
1 egg
10 gr vanillated sugar (can be replaced with 1 tsp of vanilla essence)

For the filling:
250 gr bitersweet chocolate
150 gr butter
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
50 gr (1/4 cup) sugar
a pinch of salt

Make the crust:
1. Process butter and sugar in the mixer until creamy.
2. Add in the egg and 1/4 amount of the flour, until smooth. Add in the rest of the flour and process only until a dough is formed (careful, too lenghty processing will harm the texture). Gather the dough with your hands, form a flat circle, wrap it with plastic wrap and chill for 2 hours, until the dough is cold and stiff.
3. Roll out the dough (see tips) to a circle a bit bigger than the pan’s size. It’s supposed to be about 0.5 cm thick. Place the dough in the pan and press the dough so it will fit perfectly in the pan. Here’s the place to give those margins some TLC, they’ll pay it back bigtime.
4. Make holes in the dough using a fork (see tips) and then freeze it for 10 minutes.
5. Take out of the freezer and scatter the baking weights (see tips).
6. Bake for about 15 minutes in a 350F(180C) preheated oven, until the margins begin to become golden. Remove the weights and allow the bottom to bake as well, until it becomes slightly golden.

Meanwhile, prepare the filling:
1. Melt together chocolate, butter and salt. If you’re doing it in the microwave, make sure to do it in 30 seconds intervals, and stir between each one, in order to prevent the chocolate from burning.
2. In the mixer beat together eggs, egg yolks and sugar for 5 minutes, at high speed., until light in color and fluffy in texture.
3. Gently fold the egg mixture into the chocolate mixture, until well blended. Pour over the baked crust. Bake together for about 20 minutes, or until the filling slightly cracks, is bearly stable and soft to touch.

Every time I prepared minced meat dishes, they came out OK, but not more than that. Until this one. This one is everything a minced meat pie should be - full of flavors, not dry at all - a celebration of tastes in your mouth. Seriously! And I have high standarts about minced meat pies, since a past very good friend of mine’s Mom gave me the first taste of her minced meat pie. From different reasons me and that past good friend are just past (and not present) friends, but everytime I make a minced meat pie, I keep my fingers crossed that maybe, just maybe, it will be similar to his Mom’s.

I made this one for a dinner with my Mom when she came to visit us for the first time at our new apartment. Preparing food for my Mom is never easy, cause you can’t fool her. It really has to be that good in order for her to like it. So now can you imagine me sweating in the process of making this dinner?

Avi was afraid that the meat filling would be too dry, I was afraid that it would be a little under-spiced, but it was simply wonderful. Everyone felt it was just perfect - from all the points we worried about. And you know what? I think it even tops that mean minced meat pie of my friend’s Mom, since it has all that many more flavors.

Minced Meat, Eggplant and Mushroom Pie / Adapted from a recipe found on an Israeli web-site
For a loaf pan sized 24 X 12 cm

Ingredients:
1/2 kg puff pastry
1/2 kg beef minced meat
250 gr shampinion mushrooms
1 medium sized eggplant
1 big onion
2 Tbsp brandy
5 Tbsp red wine
3 big garlic cloves, chopped
vegetable oil, for frying
2 Tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

For glazing:
1 egg, beaten

Directions:
1. Slice the eggplant into 1 cm wide slices, powder them with salt from both sides, and let rest for one hour on a surface that will be able to contain the liquids the eggplant will release.
2. Chop the onion into cubes, wash the eggplant from the salt excess and chop it into cubes as well. Slice the mushrooms into thin slices.
3. Preheat the oven to 302F (150C).
4. Heat some vegetable oil in the frying pan, add in the onion cubes and fry until golden. Add the eggplant cubes and fry until they begin softening, and finally add in the mushrooms and fry until all the ingredients of the mixture are soft.
5. Add in the minced meat and fry until it looses its pink color. During frying the meat, break the big clumps in it using a wooden spoon.
6. Add in the brandy and the red wine and fry for 10 more minutes.
7. Add in the garlic and fry for 1/2 a minute. Add the rest of the ingredients, stir well and remove from the fire.
8. Spread the puff pastry onto the greased loaf pan, so that the margins will be enough to close upon the filling.
9. Fill the puff pastry with the meat mixture, close the pastry upon the filling and brush its top with the beaten egg.
10. Bake until the puff pastry raises a bit and gets a golden color.

פשטידת בשר, פטריות וחצילים / עיבוד למתכון מ - Ynet
עבור תבנית לחם אחת בגודל 24 על 12 ס”מ

רכיבים:
1/2 ק”ג בצק עלים מוכן
1/2 ק”ג בשר בקר טחון 
1 סלסלה פטריות שמפיניון טריות
1 חציל בגודל בינוני
1 בצל גדול
2 כפות ברנדי
5 כפות יין אדום
3 שיני שום כתוש גדולות, פרוסות
שמן לטיגון 
2 כפות פפריקה מתוקה 
1/2 כפית פלפל שחור גרוס 
1 כף אבקת מרק עוף 
1/2 כפית מלח 

לזיגוג:
1 ביצה טרופה 

הכנה:
1. פורסים את החציל לפרוסות בעובי 1 ס”מ, ממליחים משני הצדדים ומשאירים לנוח כשעה על משטח שמוכן לקבלת נוזלים רבים שהחציל ישחרר.
2. קוצצים היטב את הבצל, שוטפים את החצילים מהמלח, פורסים לקוביות, מנגבים את הפטריות ופורסים אותן לפרוסות דקות.
3. מחממים תנור ל - 150 מעלות.
4. מחממים מעט שמן במחבת, מוסיפים את הבצל, מטגנים עד להשחמה, מוסיפים את החצילים ומטגנים עד שהם מתחילים להתרכך, ולבסוף מוסיפים את הפטריות ומטגנים עד שהן רכות.
5. מוסיפים את הבשר הטחון ומטגנים עד שהוא מאבד את צבעו הורוד. בזמן הטיגון שוברים את גושי הבשר בעזרת כף עץ.
6. מוסיפים את הברנדי ואת היין האדום וממשיכים לטגן עוד 10 דקות.
7. מוסיפים את השום ומטגנים עוד כחצי דקה. מוסיפים את שאר התבלינים, מערבבים היטב ומסירים מהאש.
8. מרפדים את התבנית המשומנת בבצק כך שנותרים שוליים שמאפשרים כיסוי של הפשטידה.
9. ממלאים בתערובת הבשר, סוגרים את הבצק על התערובת ומושחים בביצה הטרופה.
10. אופים בתנור עד שהבצק תופח מעט ומשחים.

The title of this post combines two things that are very close to my heart - nuts, obviously, and Scrat, that wonderfully cute squirrel from Ice Age (”Gone Nutty” is the name of a short film that Scrat is starring in, as usual chasing his beloved acorn). In fact Avi and I love Scrat so much, that he appeared on our wedding invitation!

The front cover of our wedding invitation, designed by Avi.
The text says: “A love so pure hasn’t been witnessed since Ice Age ”

The pie before entering the oven

And back to the nuts - well, I totally fell in love with them as a kid, when my grandma first made a cake that I cannot even remember its looks, but its taste and texture are still vivid in my mouth! It had a crispy base, a half-soft-half-firm nutty filling and a grilled top made of cripsy dough. One of my definite favorites of all her cakes. So naturally, when I  first discovered the nowadays version of that cake - Pecan Pies - it almost automatically became my absolute favorite dessert.

One thing that isn’t very clear to me is why on earth it took me so long to bake one of my own. Had I known I had such a great recipe just waiting to be made, I swear i would have baked it earlier! The recipe is by one of the best Israeli pastry-chefs named Roni Venezia.

Pecan Pie / Roni Venezia, with minor changes I’ve made
Makes one 26cm (10-inch) pie

Ingredients:
For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
175 gr cold butter, diced
1 egg yolk
1 Tbsp ice water

For the filling:
3 Tbsp (45 gr) butter, diced
1 1/3 cups light corn syrup
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp Frangelico liqueur (hazelnuts liqueur, I didn’t have it so I used Amareto, you can also use Brandy)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 (150 gr) pecan nuts, chopped
2 cups (200 gr) pecan nuts halves (I used only 110 gr)

For the glaze (my addition, since I like the pecans glossy):
2 Tbsp apricot jam
2 Tbsp very hot water

Prepare the dough:
1. Process flour, sugar and butter in food processor.
Process using short pulses, just until a crumbly mixture is formed.
2. Add the egg yolk and the cold water. Continue processing in pulses just until the dough is formed.
3. Wrap the dough with plastic, and refrigerate for an hour.
4. Take the dough out of the refrigerator,  place it onto a lightly floured work surface, and scatter a little flour over the top (I always place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap - I found out that it’s the easiest way for me to roll out crispy dough), roll it out and line the pie pan with it. Heat the oven to 340°F (170° celsius).  Freeze the pan with the dough in it for 10 mins.
5. Partially blind bake the crust, until its color becomes light golden.
6. Let cool in the pan on a rack before filling.

Prepare the filling:
1. Melt the butter In a small pot.
2. Move the melted butter into a bowl, and add to it the corn syrup, the sugar, the egg, the yolks, the liqueur and the vanilla extract. Whisk it until well blended.
3. Add the chopped nuts to the mixture and blend well.
4. Place the pie pan on a larger ban (the oven’s pan, for instance) and pour the mixture over the dough. Arrange the nuts halves neatly upon the mixture (if you want to arrange them in circles - arrange them starting with the outer circle).
5. Bake the pie for 40-50 mins, or until the center is softly set.
6. Let the pie rest for 15 mins. Then mix the apricot jam with the hot water and gently spread the mixture on top of the pie. This will get your pecans to look shiny and beautiful!
7. Let the pie rest for at least 30 mins total before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

את המתכון בעברית של פאי הפקאן הנפלא הזה ניתן למצוא באתר על השולחן

Apple pies and cakes are a great weakness of mine since I was a little girl. Back in Romania, my grandma, who was a great cook and baker, would make the perfect apple cake. Or was it a pie? It’s something in between, actually.  In one of my next posts, I’ll prepare and write about that Romanian apple cake.
Anyway, I’m constantly in a search for the best apple pie. It’s something you gotta have, right? This one is my current favorite.
Before even finding its recipe, I’ve read great recommendations of it in various food forums, they all talked about Amira’s apple pie as the best you’ve ever made. So I found the recipe and obviously tried it. The results stood up to the high expectations I’ve built around this pie. The crust is crispy, and the apple filling doesn’t make it moist, due to the biscuits crumbs that you need to place onto the pie dough before adding the filling to it. The filling was great, with a beautiful cinammon aroma in it.
This was the first time I’ve made a double crusted pie. The shape of the top crust was made using a stencil.

Amira’s Apple Pie
Makes one 24cm (9-inch) pie

Ingredients:
For the dough:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 Tbsp sugar
150 gr cold butter, cut into squares
1 pinch of salt
4-6 Tbsp ice-cold water

For the filling:
5 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4 cups sugar
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
25 gr butter, cut into small squares
1/2 cup biscuit crumbs

For the topping:
25 gr butter, melted

Prepare the dough:
1. Process flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and butter in food processor.
Process using short pulses, just until a crumbly mixture is formed.
2. Add the cold water spoon by spoon, and continue processing in pulses
until the dough is formed (you may not need all the water).
3. Divide the dough into 2 halves, wrap with plastic, and refrigerate both
parts for at least an hour and max. 24 hours. The dough can also be freezed for a month or two for further use.

Prepare the filling:
1. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the butter and biscuit crumbs.
2. Grease a 24 cm (9 inch) pie pan. Preheat the oven to 180 celsius degrees (356 Fahrenheit).
3. Take out one part of the dough from the refrigerator, roll it out and line the pie pan with it.
4. Scatter the biscuit crumbs upon the dough. These will absorb the apples’ liquids and prevent the dough from being all too moist.
5. Arrange the apples upon the biscuit crumbs, and scatter the small butter squares evenly upon the apples.
6. Roll out the second part of the dough.
7. Use a stencil to create the grilled shape with the dough. If you don’t have a stencil, you can use a small cookie cutter to form shapes in a uniform manner, or you can place all of it as is on top of the pie, and form a single hole in its middle.
8. Place the dough on top of the apples and butter, and gently press it onto the pan, to seal it as much as possible.
9. Brush the top lightly with the melted butter.
10. Bake for about 45 mins, or until the top crust is golden brown, rotating the pan as necessary for even baking.
11. Remove the pie from the oven and cool on a wire rack. Let rest for at least 20 mins before slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature.

 פאי תפוחים / אמירה, אחד מפורומי האוכל השונים

לבצק:
2 כוסות קמח רגיל
1 כפית אבקת אפיה
4 כפות סוכר
150 גרם חמאה קרה קרה חתוכה לקוביות
קורט מלח
4-6 כפות מי קרח

למלית:
5 תפוחי גרני סמית (ירוקים חמצמצים) קלופים ופרוסים לפרוסות דקות
1 כף מיץ לימון
3/4 כוס סוכר
1 כף קמח
1 כפית קינמון טחון
25 גרם חמאה בקוביות קטנות
1/2 כוס פירורי ביסקויט

לציפוי:
25 גרם חמאה מומסת

אופן ההכנה:
לבצק:
במעבד מזון לעבד בפולסים קצרים קמח, אבקת אפיה, מלח, סוכר.
להוסיף את החמאה ולעבד מספר שניות.
להוסיף כף אחר כף את מי הקרח עד שמתחיל להתגבש בצק.
ככל שמעבדים פחות הבצק יותר מוצלח.
מחלקים הבצק ל-2 חלקים, משטחים לדיסקה עגולה ועבה, עוטפים כל אחד בנילון נצמד ומניחים במקרר לפחות לשעה(כשחם..אפילו יותר)

למלית:
בקערה גדולה מערבבים היטב את כל המצרכים, חוץ מפירורי הביסקויטים וקוביות החמאה.
משמנים בחמאה תבנית פאי בקוטר 24 ס”מ.
מחממים תנור ל-180 מעלות.
מוציאים חלק אחד של הבצק מהמקרר, מרדדים (הכי נוח בין 2 יריעות נילון נצמד) לעיגול גדול במעט מקוטר התבנית.
מניחים הבצק בתבנית, מצמידים ומסירים עודפים מהשוליים.
מפזרים על הבצק את פירורי הביסקויט.
מעליהם בערימה את התפוחים, ומפזרים את קוביות החמאה.
מרדדים את החלק השני של הבצק באותו אופן.
יוצרים את צורת הרשת מעל העוגה בעזרת שבלונה. למי שאין שבלונה, ניתן ליצור חורים בבצק עם חותכן קטן, או פקק של בקבוק, ליצירת דוגמא של רשת מהבצק.
מניחים את הבצק בזהירות על התפוחים ומצמידים היטב אל שולי התבנית.
מורחים את הבצק בחמאה המומסת, מדביקים עליו לקישוט את הצורות שהוצאנו ומורחים גם אותן בחמאה. מכניסים לתנור ואופים כ-45 דקות עד שהפאי מזהיב.
רצוי לא לחתוך כשחם…להגיש פושר או קר עם כדור גלידת וניל…שילוב מצוין…