Cooks Cakes: Pie

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This small, 6" cheesecake is perfect for a small family gathering. It's smaller, so you can make it the same day, and it only needs to cool 3-4 hours.

I use my Instant Pot because it cooks perfectly and quickly.

What you Need:

For the crust:
4-5 full graham crackers (or 1/2 cup of graham cracker crumbs)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
2-3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted

For the filling:
12-ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 whole egg + 1 egg yolk, at room temperature

1 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. lemon zest or 1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 cup sour cream

For the chocolate topping:

2-3 Tbsp. Heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips (or 2 oz. chopped chocolate)

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Around here, it's not cake that takes the cake for birthdays... it's pie. And this year, I made my husband three different pies to celebrate his big 40th birthday.

#1- French Silk Pie - This rich, chocolate cream pie is amazingly good!

#2- Strawberry Rhubarb Pie - I had to substitute store-bought frozen rhubarb, but it was still fantastic!

#3- Cherry Pie - How can you go wrong with a classic?

The only one missing was my favorite: Lemon Cream Pie... but then, it wasn't my birthday!

We had a bumper crop of pie pumpkins in our garden this summer. So, my son, Charley decided he wanted to learn to make pumpkin pie. This recipe is the result of lots of trial and error in using fresh pumpkins in our pie. We love it, and hope you will, too.

What You Need:
For the Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/4 cup shortening
1/4 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. butter

For the Filling:
1- medium sized pie pumpkin (for 2 1/2 cups pumpkin puree)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp. Corn starch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1-2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
2 large eggs + 2 egg yolks (beaten)
2 1/2 cups evaporated milk (about 1 1/2 cans)

For the Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar

*Please note: this recipe makes a DEEP DISH pie. If you are using a regular pie plate, you will need to either cut the filling by about 1/3 or use the extra filling to make pumpkin custards (which I recommend).

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Chocolate Pie with a Pretzel Crust and Peanut Butter swirls. My boys and I worked together to make this perfect-for-Daddy birthday pie. (Which is why I have no pictures of the process, sorry.)

What You Need:
2 cups crushed pretzels
1/2 cup melted butter
3 eggs (separated)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups heavy cream
12 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4-1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Make the Crust:
Preheat oven to 350-degrees (F).
Crush pretzels to small crumbs and pour into a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Melt the butter. Add to the pretzel crumbs, and stir to combine.
Separate one egg. Add the egg white to the pretzel mixture. Place the egg yolk into another small mixing bowl.
Mix the egg white with the pretzel crumbs and butter (be sure to add the white after you've combined the butter and crumbs or you could heat the white too much).
Press the pretzel mixture into an 8-9" pie pan. (This is sticky business.)
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is crispy and golden.

Make the Filling:
While the crust is baking, make the chocolate filling.
Whisk the two remaining eggs, and the one yolk with the sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl until well-combined and airy.
Heat the cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat until bubbles form around the edges.
Slowly pour the heated cream into the egg mixture, whisking constantly while pouring a thin stream of hot cream into the eggs. (Being careful not to "cook" the eggs.) When it's fully combined, pour the mixture back into the pan, and heat over medium heat until it thickens.
Remove from heat, and add the chocolate chips. Stir well to combine.

Make the Pie and Chill overnight:
Pour the filling into the pie crust.
Add the peanut butter. (I warmed the peanut butter in the microwave for 20 seconds, then poured it into a zip-top sandwich bag. Cut the corner, and squeezed it onto the top of the pie. If you want it to swirl down into the pie, use a butter knife to swirl it in.)

Refrigerate for at least 5 hours to overnight.

Note: This is very, very rich pie. Cut into small pieces and serve with milk or coffee!

This treat is perfect if you love pie, but don't want to heat up the kitchen for hours. You still have to bake some of the crust, but it only takes five minutes, not an hour, in the oven.

What You Need
Pie Crust
   You can use store-bought or one of my Two Favorite Pie Crust Recipes
   (Flaky Pie Crust or Rich Pie Crust).
Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce
   Or you can use store-bought pie filling. Cherry & Blueberry would make a cool red, white and blue pie.
Vanilla Ice Cream

Pretty simple instructions here...

Make the crust.
For mine, I used my Flaky Pie Crust Recipe, and cut it into stars (or even just cut into strips if you want to make it even easier). Be sure to prick it with a fork before you cut it so that the crust doesn't get funky air bubbles. Bake at 425-degrees for just 5-7 minutes.
I only used 1/4 of the dough, and it made about six to eight "pies."

Make the filling.
The Recipe for Strawberry-Rhubarb Sauce is here.

Assemble them in cute cups or mugs, and top with ice cream.

Yum!

I love cheesecake bars. I've made Strawberry-Rhubarb Cheesecake Bars, Caramel Apple Cheesecake Bars, Cranberry-Gingerbread Cheesecake Bars. And now, Pumpkin Streusel Cheesecake Bars

What You Need:
For the Crust & Topping:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped, toasted pecans
1 tsp. salt (if using unsalted butter)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled

For the Filling:
2- 8 oz. block cream cheese (at room temperature)
1 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg

Note: I think I would like to have more filling, but my husband and children insist this is enough. If I double it, and like it, I'll report back.
** Update: I 1.5-ed the filling, and I think it was PERFECT. That used 3 blocks of cream cheese, 1 15-oz. can pumpkin, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 3 eggs, 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice... and it baked for an hour. Awesome yumminess!

Yield: 30-40 2" square bars
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My baby sister is getting married next summer. We're about ankle-deep at this point in trying to get some of the basics set. The thing is, she can't really be related to me because she's not a huge fan of cake. (I know! Right?!)

So, I'm thinking that if we can convince my mom, and perhaps my future brother-in-law... she can go with some kind of dessert bar.

Now, I would LOVE to be able to actually make such a thing happen for her all by myself, but given that the wedding will be in Texas, and I live in Minnesota, this seems unlikely. But perhaps I can make some recommendations... like these mini chocolate cream pies.

What You Need:
For the crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 Tbsp. butter

For the filling:
3/4 cup butter (at room temperature)
1 cup powdered sugar
5 oz. semisweet or unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs (or 3/4 cup 'pasteurized egg product' to protect from salmonella)

For the topping:
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 Tbsp. powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Yield: About 36 mini pies.
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I love Rhubarb! And thanks to a late spring, it's just now rhubarb season here.
Here's a collection of the rhubarb recipes I posted last summer, and my best rhubarb tips, too.