Pecan Crumb-Top Blueberry Pie

Fresh blueberries were on sale at the local grocery store last week and so we bought several cartons. On the 4th of July I decided to use them for a pie. I merged two recipes from the fantastic cookbook Pie by Ken Haedrich (contains 300 different pie recipes). The result? One of the best pies I’ve ever had. I would put this up against any blueberry pie I’ve ever had. A few days ago we went and hand-picked blueberries with some friends. So now I have more blueberries and I definitely think it’s time to make this pie again…

A note about pie crust: If you are able to make a delicious pie crust you have my admiration. I’ve found that the pre-made, refrigerated pie crusts (from Pillsbury, for example) that you simply unroll and place in your pie pan are as good as any crust I’ve ever made myself AND SO MUCH EASIER. With a pre-made crust, this pie can be assembled in less than 15 minutes.

• One pie crust

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Filling

• 5 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (but thawed) or canned (but drained)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 T. cornstarch
• 1 T. flour
• 1/8 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1 T. lemon juice

Place blueberries in large bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well, trying not to smash the blueberries. Allow to sit for 5-10 minutes while you press pie crust into pie pan.

Pour filling into pie pan and place in 400°F oven for 30 minutes.

Pecan Crumb Topping

• 6 T. butter, cold and cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3/4 cup pecans, chopped
• 1 T. milk

While pie is baking, prepare topping by placing butter, flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Combine well with pastry cutter (a food processor can also do the job). Add pecans and milk. Continue to mix with pastry cutter (or fork) until damp and crumbly. Store in refrigerator until ready to use.

After 30 minutes in oven, remove pie and reduce oven heat to 375°F. Spread crumb topping onto the pie and lightly pat them down. Return pie to oven and bake for 30-40 more minutes at 375°F until juices bubble thickly. (It is helpful to place foil under the pie to catch dripping juices. Also, if crust starts getting too dark, you can place foil loosely over top of pie for last 10-15 minutes of baking.)

Transfer hot pie to cooling rack and allow to sit for a couple of hours before serving. Enjoy with ice cream or by itself, cold or warm.

Red Velvet Cake

Erin requested a red velvet cake for her birthday. I had never made one before, but I decided it would be fun to try. I found this recipe for “Southern Red Velvet Cake” on FoodNetwork.com. It is from the show Sarah’s Secrets and the recipe is presented by Cakeman Raven. It was fun to make and turned out really well. I am posting the cream cheese frosting recipe separately because it was excellent and would also be delicious for use on a carrot cake or cinnamon rolls.

Video from Sara’s Secrets on Food Network:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans (3 may be used, but I only have two—and two worked just fine).

Mix the following dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside:

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cocoa powder

In stand mixer bowl, combine the following on low speed:

• 1 1/2 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup buttermilk (preferably room temp.)
• 2 large eggs (preferably room temp.)
• 2 tablespoons red food coloring (1 ounce—this ended up being the entire bottle)
• 1 tsp. white distilled vinegar
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Gradually add the dry ingredients to the liquid ingredients and beat on medium to medium-high speed until well combined.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs on it. Allow cakes to cool and then remove from pans. (At this point you can either proceed to frosting or store in the refrigerator until later. Cakes stored in refrigerator are much easier to frost.)

When ready to assemble cake, prepare Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe. Frost generously and then garnish with chopped pecans.

  

Happy Birthday, Erin!

Pecan Crunch Buttercream

I made this cake for my grandma's birthday. It is the Chocolate Butter Cake topped with Pecan Crunch Buttercream. Both recipes are from Cake Love by Warren Brown. People seemed to really love this buttercream. It's natural flavor and color comes from real pecans.

Milk Mixture:

• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 ounces (1 cup) unsalted pecan halves
• 7 ounces (3/4 cup + 2 T.) extra-fine granulated sugar

Yolk Mixture:

• 6 egg yolks
• 2 ounces (1/4 cup) extra-fine granulated sugar
• 3 T. potato starch
• ¼ cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter

Flavorings and Butter:

• 3 ounces (1/4 cup) muscavado or dark brown sugar, packed
• 1 T. honey
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups (4 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled

2 ounces (1/4 cup) extra-fine granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Separate the yolks into a large bowl. Add the 2 ounces of sugar and the potato starch and whisk to combine. Add the 2 ounces of butter, but do not stir in. Set aside.

Measure the milk mixture ingredients into a 2-quart, heavy-bottomed saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Turn off the heat and let the pecans steep for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, strain the pecans and capture the flavored milk in a large bowl. Set pecans aside.

Return the milk mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Once it reaches a simmer, slowly pour it into the yolk mixture, whisking slowly in small circles at first and ending with broader strokes until fully combined (it may be helpful to put a damp towel underneath the bowl or to have someone hold it to prevent it from sliding while you stir). Pour the mixture back into the saucepan.

Return the saucepan to the stove and heat over medium heat, whisking constantly but not rapidly, for about 4 minutes (high altitude: 3 minutes). The key is to keep the pastry cream moving so it won't scorch on the bottom of the saucepan. When you begin to see lava bubbles—large, slowly forming bubble that burp steam—reduce the heat to the lowest setting and whisk briskly for 1 minute to pasteurize the pastry cream.

Pour the pastry cream into the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the wire ship attachment. Add the muscovado, honey, and vanilla extract. Whip the pastry cream on high speed until it's cooled to room temperature, about 4 to 5 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium-low and add the butter, 1 tablespoon at a time. Whip on medium speed until smooth, about 2 to 3 minutes.

Meanwhile, toss the drained pecans with ¼ cup sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Place on an ungreased cooking sheet. Toast for 5 to 10 minutes (high altitude: about 15 minutes). Be careful not to burn.

Let the pecans (pralines) cool completely; then break into chunks. Add them to the buttercream and mix on low speed until the nuts are fully incorporated. (You can also save some of pralines to decorate the top of the cake.)

Note: This frosting is called BUTTERcream for a reason—it has lots of butter. The butter makes it thicker, but you can get away with adding less butter. I recommend experimenting with it to see what you like best, as far as consistency and flavor. I think you could get away with adding 3 sticks of butter instead of 4 (maybe even less).

Coconut Pecan Yams

We first had this dish when the Edwards' family brought it to a church potluck. I've never been big on yams (I usually just take a little bit at Thanksgiving to be polite), but I absolutely loved these! As I said to Erin, "How can you ever go wrong when there's butter, brown sugar, coconut, and pecans?" Warning: If you follow this recipe exactly you will notice that it asks you to add a cup of sugar to the yams. It is VERY sweet. I think sweet potatoes are sweet enough on their own (hence the name) and so I would recommend leaving out the cup of sugar (unless, of course you are in a very sweet mood or would like to serve this as a dessert).

• 3 cups cooked, mashed yams
• 1 cup sugar (optional)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Combine the above ingredients, mix well and spoon into a lightly greased 2-qt. rectangular baking dish.

Topping:

• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped pecans

Combine the Topping ingredients and sprinkle over yams. Bake at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 45 minutes.

Toasted Butter Pecan Cake

Erin made this cake last night. It is another recipe from Taste of Home magazine. If you don't like pecans, you definitely won't like this cake. But, in my opinion, any recipe with lots of butter, sugar, and pecans must be a winner!

This recipe calls for a total of 2 2/3 cups of chopped pecans. As you can see from the picture, it is loaded with them. I think you could easily get away with using quite a bit fewer and still have it be delicious (maybe 1 to 1 1/2 cups in the cake and then a few pecans sprinkled on top for appearance). Also, this recipe makes a ton of frosting. Either frost it extremely generously, or expect to have quite a bit of frosting left over.

• 1 1/4 cups butter, softened, divided
• 2 cups chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk

Frosting:

• 2 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 package (2 lbs.) powder sugar
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 to 3 T. milk
• 2/3 cup chopped pecans, toasted

In a small heavy skillet, melt 1/4 cup butter. Add pecans; cook over medium heat until toasted, about 4 minutes. Spread on foil to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and remaining butter. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; add to creamed mixture alternately with milk. Beat just until combined. Fold in pecans. Pour into three greased 9-in. round baking pans. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks to cool completely.

For frosting, in a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter, powder sugar and vanilla. Beat in enough milk to achieve spreading consistency. Spread frosting between layers and over top and sides of cake. Sprinkle with pecans. Store in refrigerator.

Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie is probably my favorite kind of pie. For a long time I have been wanting to learn to make a good, traditional pecan pie. Well, I discovered that they are much simpler to make than I ever expected. This recipe is from Joy of Cooking.

You may use either light or dark brown sugar and either light or dark corn syrup, depending on your taste. I used light brown sugar and half light and half dark corn syrup. The recipe also calls for 2 cups of pecans, but 1 1/2 cups was plenty. Pecan halves look more traditional, but I used the more finely chopped pecan pieces. I think they make the pie easier to cut into slices and, as you can see from the above picture, still make a very nice-looking pie.

Erin and I usually use the refrigerated pie crusts that you unroll and put in the pie pan. We pre-baked the crust for 10 minutes at 375 degrees with tin foil over it, but the pre-bake may not be necessary.

• 4 large eggs
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup corn syrup
• 5 T. unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 cups pecans

Thoroughly whisk all ingredients except pecans together in a large bowl until well blended. Stir in the pecans and then pour into the pie crust. Bake for 35-45 minutes, until the edges are firm and the center seems set but quivery, like gelatin. Rotate 180 degrees halfway through baking. If the crust starts becoming too brown before the pie is ready, wrap tin foil around crust to prevent it from burning.

Remove from oven, allow to cool on a wire rack, and enjoy!

Butterscotch Pecan Pie

This is another very good pecan pie recipe. I found it in the book "Pie" by Ken Haedrich. If you like butterscotch flavor and feel like adding a little excitement to your traditional pecan pie, I highly recommend this one. This recipe also calls for 2 cups of pecans, but 1 1/2 cups is just fine.

• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar (light brown works fine too)
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup butterscotch chips
• Generous pinch of salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 cups coarsely choppped pecans

Prepare the pie crust, partially pre-baking for 10 minutes as in the recipe above. Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Gently warm the corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter together in a medium-size saucepan until the butter melts. Turn off the heat and add the butterscotch chips. Scatter them around rather than dumping them in one spot. Set the pan aside for 5 minutes, shaking it once or twice to move hot liquid over the chips. After 5 minutes, add the salt and whisk to smooth. Pour the mixture into a large bowl and let cool for 5 minutes.

In a medium-size bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together just until frothy. Whisk in the vanilla. Whisk a little less than half of the hot liquid and whisk until smooth. Add the pecans and stir well. Turn the filling into the cooled pie shell. Using a fork, gently rake the filling to distribute the pecans evenly.

Place the pie on the center oven rack and bake until the perimeter of the filling has puffed up and perhaps cracked slightly, 40-45 minutes. Rotate the pie 180 degrees halfway through the baking. When done, the center may wobble a little, but it shouldn't seem soupy.

Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool.

Praline Squares

This is a recipe from my mom. It is a good-tasting, simple dessert that I remember looking forward to the times when my mom would make it.

• 1/4 cup shortening (melted)
• 1 cup light brown sugar (packed)
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (sifted)
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In mixing bowl, blend sugar with melted shortening; allow to cool. Stir in egg. Mix dry ingredients and add to the shortening mixture. Stir in vanilla and pecans. Spread in 8x8-inch greased and floured pan (or you can double the recipe and use a 9x13-inch pan). Bake for 25 minues, until light touch with finger leaves slight imprint. Don't overbake! Cut into squares while still warm.

Caramel-Pecan Cheesecake Pie

My wife loves pie. Since Erin and I got married, I've been trying out more pie recipes. My favorite kind of pie is pecan pie. I made this pie a couple of months ago and it was an instant hit with both of us. It's delicious, unique, and very easy to make—one of my very favorite!

To me, this pie is magical. You put in the cream cheese mix on the bottom, then the pecans in the middle, and the caramel mix on top. When it comes out of the oven, the caramel mix is on the bottom, the cream cheese mix in the middle, and the pecans on the top!

Also, note that the pie needs to be refrigerated at least 4 hours before serving so it is best to make it in the morning or the night before you plan to serve it.
This recipe is from Taste of Home magazine.

• 1 package (8 oz.) cream cheese, softened
• ½ cup sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 unbaked pastry shell (9-inch, the deep/large size)
• 1 ¼ cups chopped pecans
• 1 cup caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 375°.
In a small mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, sugar, 1 egg and vanilla until smooth. Spread into pastry shell; sprinkle with pecans.
In a small bowl, whisk remaining eggs; gradually whisk in caramel topping until blended. Pour over pecans.
Bake at 375° for 35-40 minutes or until lightly browned (loosely cover with foil after 20 minutes if pie browns too quickly). Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight before slicing. Refrigerate leftovers.

Oatmeal Cake

This is one of my all-time favorite desserts. It is from the mother (Cristi Johnson) of one of my best friends. She is perhaps the best baker I know, and this is one of her classics!

• 1 cup quick cooking oatmeal
• 1 ¼ cups boiling water
• ½ cup margarine
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/3 cup sifted flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans)

Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix oats, boiling water and margarine in bowl. Let stand for 20 minutes.
While waiting: Mix all dry ingredients in large bowl.
Then add oatmeal mixture, eggs, and vanilla to dry ingredients. Beat until smooth. Add chopped nuts.
Bake in greased (but not floured) 9"x13" pan at 350° for 45 minutes.

Topping:
I prefer to use 1½x what the original recipe calls for. (I'll list the quantities from the original recipes in parenthesis.)

• ½ cup butter (1/3 cup)
• 1 cup brown sugar (2/3 cup)
• 1 ½ cups coconut (1 cup)
• ¾ cup chopped nuts (1/2 cup)—I prefer pecans for the topping
• 9 Tblsp. cream (6 Tblsp.)

Heat and mix the above ingredients in saucepan until a little bubbly around the edges.

When cake is done, remove from oven and cover with topping. Brown lightly in broiler.