Category: Pie

Paige’s No Fail Pie Crust

Paige’s NO Fail Pie Crust

Paige’s No Fail Pie Crust came about after watching my daughter-in-law Paige make pies on Thanksgiving. While visiting with her, I watched her struggle with a pie crust and I could feel her anguish.  We have all been there creating the pie crust that won’t come together and falls apart. We have all done the patch-work on the plate. Paige, this one is for you.  I came home and with a vengeance created this recipe for you.

I share with you all Paige’s Pie crust that is No-fuss and works. It took me some trial and error, but this crust stands up to a lot. My one dilemma was the question of whether to pre-bake the crust. The experts agree that if you are looking for colour, texture and flavour the answer is yes.  I leave this one to the experts until my experiments continue.  

This Italian did a lot of research on pies and this is the best article I found: https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/03/dining/pie-debates-the-experts-weigh-in.html

I did experiment with sugars; if you like replace the white sugar with coconut sugar for a different taste and more colour.  You can also leave the sugar out.

I gather the ingredients.

Pulse the flour, sugar and baking powder first.

Pulse until it looks like little peas and then add egg yolk and 2 tbsps cold water.

Keep adding cold water until the dough pulls away from the blades and forms a ball.

The dough hits the counter.

Turn it out onto the counter and knead until it comes together.

Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  It is better if it sits overnight.

This is such a smooth dough.  Here it is  ready for the oven.

Today Paige’s Pie Crust made a Holiday Chocolate Pecan Pie which will be on the website soon.

Holiday Pecan Chocolate Pie: recipes at my table

We also made a lemon custard pie.  Look at the flakiness of this dough.

I also made a pumpkin pie with this crust.

Holiday Pecan Chocolate Pie: recipes at my table
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Paige's Pie Crust

Paige's Pie Crust cuts out the anguish in baking. 

Course Dessert
Cuisine Home Cooking in Canada, Italian
Keyword Paige's Pie Crust
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup shortening I used Crisco
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 2-8 tbsp cold water

Instructions

  1. Sift the flour and and the baking powder.

    Put into a food processor and pulse.

    Add the sugar and pulse.

    Cut the shortening into cubes and add to the food processor. Pulse a few times.  

    Add the egg yolk and 2 tbsp of water.

    Pulse again.  Keep adding water 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes away from the blades and forms a ball.

    Turn the dough out onto your counter and knead briefly.

    Wrap the dough in plastic and place in refrigerator for at least two hours.  Overnight is best. 

    When ready roll out the pie dough by lightly flouring your counter and rolling pin.

    Begin by flattening the round and then rolling out from the centre.  Flip the dough, lightly flour and continue.

    If your pie will spend minimal time in the oven, then pre-bake it before filling.

    To pre-bake the shell, preheat oven to 375 F.  

    Pierce the pie shell with a fork and put a piece of parchment paper over it.

    Fill with dried beans and set in the oven for 15 minutes.

    Reduce heat to 350 after filling the pie.  

Recipe Notes

This recipe may be doubled without changing the consistency.

The dough may stay in the refrigerator overnight. 

Pre-baking creates a flakier pie crust. 

 

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Cornflake Coconut Cream Pie Recipes at my Table

Corn Flake Coconut Cream Pie

Corn flake Coconut Cream Pie

Corn Flake Coconut Cream Pie is a special and easy treat for anytime of the year.  I love coconut for many reasons, but the crunchy base of this pie and the sweetness of the cream make me so happy.

When I was a little girl my mom’s friends would gather for a piece of pie at Muio’s Restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie, ON.  It was a special occasion for these hard-working immigrant women to get together.  They would also often go to the soda counter at the Woolworth Store; here I enjoyed the spinning stools.  I was lucky enough to join them sometimes.

This was the 60’s and the women wore their best dresses with matching hats.  Sometimes the gloves came out.  I remember taking it all in because it was the culture of the times.  It was the only time they would wear lipstick and the colours were hot pinks and vibrant reds.  They wore no other make-up and they didn’t need to because the lipstick, the hats and the gloves made them stand out.  For a few hours, these hard-working immigrant women were the Sophia Lauren’s of the soda counter.

Pies were different treats for the Italian immigrants; to this day, I am afraid of making a pie crust.  This one is so easy, my grandson can make it. I think we can’t make pies because we want to over work the dough.  We are used to kneading dough and a regular pie crust needs gentle and little handling.  For these reasons, I am looking for easier shells to make.

I take two cups of the Corn Flakes and I crush them using my hands. Kids like to help with this step.

Then I add the third cup whole and mix.  This way you get different sized pieces in the crust and different levels of crunch.

Add the coconut sugar and melted butter.  Stir and put into a greased 9 inch pie dish.

I put a piece of plastic wrap over the mixture and use my hands to even it out and get up the edges. Pop into the refrigerator while you make the filling.

Put the cornstarch, sugar and milk in a pot. These are the tiny bubbles it makes as I whisk everything over medium heat.

The egg yolks are ready for the hot liquid.  I am tempering the egg yolk, this way I don’t get scrambled eggs. Adding a steady stream from a ladle into the egg yolks helps me create a smooth custard for my pie.

The rich and velvety texture of a very much-loved custard. It returns to the pot and everything blends together.

Next the coconut goes into the pot.

Once the coconut incorporates I remove the pan from the heat and add vanilla and butter.  This gives it a final touch of goodness.

The pie shell comes out of the refrigerator and I let the custard cool for a bit.

The custard meets the shell and it all goes back into the refrigerator.  My company will eat this tomorrow after our barbecue.  Try to refrigerate for at least 6 hours.

It is rich and creamy; the first piece is for me.

Cornflake Coconut Cream Pie Recipes at my table

Cornflake Coconut Cream Pie Recipes at my Table
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Corn flake Coconut Cream Pie

The easiest pie crust you will ever make.  

Course Dessert
Cuisine Home Cooking in Canada, Italian
Keyword Cornflake Coconut Cream Pie
Prep Time 44 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 14 minutes
Servings 8
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

The Pie Crust

  • 3 cups corn flakes
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 6 tbsp butter

The Filling

  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 3 cups milk
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp butter

Toasted Coconut

  • 4 tbsp shredded coconut

Instructions

The crust

  1. Place 2 cups of corn flakes in a bowl and crush with your hands.  Add the third cup of corn flakes. 

     Now sprinkle with coconut sugar.

    Melt the butter and pour over corn flakes coating all.

    Place mixture into a buttered 9 inch pie plate.

    Press firmly on bottom and up the sides.  

    Refrigerate while you make the filling. 


The filling

  1. Whisk sugar and cornstarch in a medium pot. 

    Pour in milk and blend the mixture until smooth.

    Cook this mixture over medium heat.

    When it boils, continue cooking for 2 minutes.

    Beat egg yolk in another bowl and now add a little bit of the hot mixture to the yolk. This is a good video to watch on this method: recipes/desserts/pies/cream/how-to-temper-eggs-to-make-cream-pie/

    Gently pour the yolk mixture to the hot mixture while whisking.  It really is easier than it sounds.

    Bring the mixture back to a boil.  Stir constantly.

    Remove from heat.  

    Add butter, vanilla and coconut. 

    Cook for a few minutes.

    Remove pie crust from refrigerator and add the cooled cream filling.

    Place 4 tbsp of shredded coconut in a frying pan.  Toast over medium until golden brown. 

    Sprinkle with toasted coconut.

    Refrigerate for at least four hours.







Recipe Notes

Coconut sugar is a natural sugar that comes from the palm sap. It has many important nutrients and it can reduce blood sugar spikes according to some health professionals.  I like it!

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Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie Recipes at My Table

Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie

Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie

Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie is a nice summer treat.  It brings me back to nonno’s garden and the little yellow plums.  I found a bunch of them at a local market yesterday and I am making an Italian pie with them. Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie isn’t made with a butter pastry flaky dough.

Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie turns out more like a cake in a pie dish and the dough is a crostata dough. It is quite dense and my sister-in-law Kim says that it is like a stuffed cookie.   I serve it with frozen yogurt and it makes an awesome end to an easy meal.  This dough is pliable and easy to use; the canola oil makes it stretch without breaking.

Plums are easy to grow and adapt to a variety of climates and soils.  We had wonderful plum trees at my nonnis.  My eldest daughter and son savoured the fruit of these trees.  They walked the garden with old nonno and he would pick the plums off the trees for them.  Yellow plums are grown in Ontario: https://www.ontario.ca/foodland/food/plums

My favourite memories of nonno are when he would show up at my door on Albert Street with baskets of goodies from his garden.  I treasure every moment of those days.  At 83 years old he walked everywhere and was a pillar of generosity.  Today, I am feeling more than grateful for this man who helped us all in many ways.  This recipe is dedicated to you nonno!!

For a different version of a crostata see http: https://recipesatmytable.com/apple-almond-oatmeal-crostata/

The cranberries soak in peach schnapps.

The yellow Plums are fresh. 

Dice everything into 1/4 inch cubes.

Combine the filling in a bowl and set aside.

The eggs, sugar and oil are in the food processor.

Then the dough hits the counter. I knead it a few times.

It is a beautiful and pliable dough.

Cut it in half and put it between two pieces of parchment paper.  I put a little cold water on the counter to help the parchment stay in place and I flatten the dough with my pie plate.

Now I get the perfect circle.  I use the rolling pin to roll out to the edges and extend the circle to fit the pie plate.

I use the parchment pater to help me invert the dough onto the pie plate.

Spread  the jam on the bottom.

Spoon in your fruit and fold the edges over.  You can cut off this extra dough if you like, but my family like the extra crunch.

The second piece of dough goes over the pie and now I am ready to Twist the remainder of the dough.

Cut smaller pieces and twist them together.

Such a pretty pie.

Peeking in the oven.

Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie Recipes at My Table
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Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie

A delicious and easy summer pie.  

Course Dessert
Cuisine Home Cooking in Canada, Italian
Keyword Italian Yellow Plum Summer Pie
Prep Time 46 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 36 minutes
Servings 10
Author Renata Solski

Ingredients

The filling

  • 12 small yellow plums
  • 2 firm apples your choice
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup peach schnapps
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tbsp corn starch
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tbsp grape jelly or favourite jam

The Dough

  • 3 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 1/2 cups flour and more for dusting
  • 4 tsp baking powder

Instructions

  1. Soak the dried cranberries in the peach schnapps while you cut apples and plums. 

    Cut the plums and apples into small 1/4 inch cubes.

    Combine all the ingredients except the jam in a large bowl.

    Set aside.

    In a food processor blend eggs, sugar and oil on low.  

    Add 1/2 the flour and half the baking powder and pulse.

    Add the remaining flour and baking powder.

    Blend on high until dough comes away from the blades.

    Put onto counter dust with flour and knead a few times.  The dough should come together, but not be tough.  

    Divide in two.

    Put one piece of dough between two pieces of parchment paper.

    Secure the parchment with a brushing of water on the counter.

    Flatten the first piece with the pie dish. This will give you a circular disk.

    Roll out the edges with a rolling pin to fit pie dish.

    Invert onto pie dish with parchment paper.

    Peel away parchment and fit to plate.  

    Place jam in dough and spread evenly.

    Spoon in filling.

    Fold extra dough onto filling.

    Take second disc of dough and cut off 1/3.

    Use the 2/3 dough to make another round disk to fit on the pie.

    Use a fork to crimp edges.

    Use the remaining 1/3 dough and divide into 3 pieces.

    Divide each piece into two and make braids to decorate around the plate. 

    Place pie in 350F oven for 35 ro 40 minutes.

    Remove and cool. 

    May be served with ice cream hot or cold. 



Recipe Notes

This is a thicker and crunchier dough.  Cut into small pieces to serve.  

If you like a very thin dough you can divide in two and make two pies.  

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