pies – Page 6 – will garden for cake

shoo fly, don’t bother me…

Published on September 29, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

its that time of year again. the temperatures are beginning to drop and cane juice is being boiled down to make sorghum. that makes it time for shoo fly pie! yes, i know that it is a yankee thing-actually a pennsylvania dutch tradition, but it is a great way to showcase sorghum and it is on the menu today!

this is an interesting recipe. you whisk together sorghum and corn syrup with some spices, eggs and baking soda. it starts to get a little foamy and then you whisk in hot water and pour it into a partially baked pie shell. sprinkle struesal crumb topping over it and bake it. that is shoo fly pie-simple, easy, so tasty and sadly, not in the book…that means you need to stop by and get yourself a slice.

and they’re off…taste the book with some steeplechase pie

Published on August 31, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

every spring, the steeplechase is held in warner park. it is nashville’s version of the kentucky derby but we like to think ours is more fun. since we risk a lawsuit by offering a true “derby” pie, i came up with our own signature pie-we call it steeplechase pie. its a pecan pie with chocolate chips and lots of whiskey. and it is on the menu this week.

chocolate chips and pecan pieces in the bottom of a partially baked pie shell.

whisk melted butter and sugar together. add the vanilla and the whiskey and mic the completely.

whisk in the eggs

add the corn syrup and whisk it again

pour it into the pie shell and into the oven it goes.

all done!

come on in and taste the book, we’ll save you a slice

8/24 is national peach pie day!

Published on August 24, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

ooooh it’s a holiday, let’s par-tay!!! we’ll bake a pie together, it’ll be such fun…

grated lemon zest, vanilla bean-scraped (save the pod for something else), cardamom and pumpkin pie spice…add some sugar and cornstarch and rub it all together.

add the peaches and toss them together

make thin strips of dough and lay 5 across the top, just like the photo…

5 more strips of dough, just like so…

into the oven she goes. golden brown and bubbly…who’s got the ice cream?

for more information, read all about it in my latest article for the examiner.com

taste the book, 6/30

Published on June 30, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsman1 Comment

now that the book is pretty much finished, i have turned my attention to other things like my garden and making bread. however, i still have my job at the cafe to contend with and this is the perfect opportunity to put the recipes i worked on for the last 6 months on display. with that in mind, i invite you to taste the book. as long as i am capable (read that as not so busy with the volume at the cafe), i will feature a dessert from the book as a special and post about it here. first up is the lemon ice box pie, a sweet and creamy pie perfect for a hot summer day (as long as you eat it quickly!)

freshly zested lemons

lemons, juiced by hand the old fashioned way (can you cay carpal tunnel?)

egg yolks, a bunch when you make as many pies as i did

if double yolks are a good luck charm, then i am drowning in them. this last month or so, we have gotten large quantities and i have cracked as many as 12 in a day.

sorry, didn’t take photos of the next step-it was kinda boring-zzzz

mix the juice, zest and eggs into sweetened condensed milk and pour it into a cookie crumb crust. most of the time, these just go straight into the fridge to “cook” and set but the s.c.m. has been rather thin lately so i opted for a quick trip in the oven, about 7 minutes, to help them set.

let the pie chill, top it with whipped cream and white chocolate shavings. to make nice shavings, hold your knife perpendicular to the surface of the chocolate-one hand on the handle and the other on the tip of the blade and while applying light pressure, drag the knife towards you to make shavings.

oh so rich and creamy, lemon ice box pie in a gingerbread biscotti crumb crust-come on in and taste the book, i dare you!

totally pietastic

Published on February 2, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

today found me completing the first chapter of the book. it is all about pies and i was able to get the last of them finished today. guess the fact that we have been slightly snowbound wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

country pies are easy to make. what are they you ask, galettes in southern speak. just little free form tarts/pies. not too fancy but very quick and tasty.

toss some ripe fruit with sugar, flour and any spices or other flavors if you like.

roll out a little piece of dough. it doesn’t need to be perfect.

top it with the fruit filling.

fold the edges in towards the middle but be sure to let a little of the fruit peek out.

it should look like this. then a quick brush of egg wash and a sprinkle of large crystal sugar and into the oven it goes.

warm tasty pies. where’s the ice cream…

chapter one

Published on January 26, 2010November 18, 2014 by alisahuntsmanLeave a comment

and so it starts. after many months of negotiations, i am off and running. the book needs to be finished in may so i am working as quickly as i can but not so fast that the recipes are substandard. as i finish some recipes, i feature them in the cafe so be sure to stop by and check out the daily dessert list.

writing recipes seems easy. it is if you are making soup. not so when you are making cakes. it is easier to make lousy cake recipes than you could ever imagine. the slightest change in the ph balance can wreak havoc on a cake! so can oven temperature and the size or shape of a pan.

this cake tested me. after about 6 different versions, i finally found the right balance.

sour cherries, vanilla cake and struesal-works for me! i really like it in the square pan rather than the old stand by-round.

the original version baked in a round pan in the cafe. what a time i had trying to duplicate it at home with different ingredients sources, a home oven and a square pan.