Chocolate Pecan Pie

The recipe for this Chocolate Pecan Pie is one that we created and originally shared early last year over on High Tea With Dragons as a guest post while Kirsten was away on her honeymoon.
Pecan Pie is one of the first things I made and posted about back when I started up Baking Makes Things Better.  I’ve always wanted to try a chocolate version of Pecan Pie so this is a slight variation on my original recipe. 
This pie would go great with cream, custard or ice cream, but is also amazing on its own. You could buy a pre-made pastry, or challenge yourself to try make the chocolate pastry recipe below.

Serves about 10.

Sweet short pastry:
Ingredients:
2 cups standard flour
1 cup icing sugar
¼ cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
250g cold butter, cubed
2 –3 tablespoons icy water

Method:
Place all the ingredients, except the water, into a food processor.  Pulse until combined.
With the motor running, add enough water to the dough to form a ball (I usually use 2 tablespoons).
Press into a greased 25cm round lose based flan pan.  Chill for 1 hour.

Filling:
Ingredients:
350g pecans, chopped coarsely
1 vanilla bean
2 cups cream
1 ¾ cups brown sugar
100g butter
100g dark chocolate broken into chunks (I used Whittakers 50% Chocolate)
2 tablespoons bourbon (optional – it enhances the chocolate flavour)
2 eggs, beaten

Method:
Preheat the oven to 170˚C.  Place an oven tray in the middle of the oven to heat.
Place the pecans onto the uncooked pastry base, then place it back in the fridge until needed.
Slice the vanilla bean in half and place it with all the ingredients, except the eggs, in a saucepan.  Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves and the butter and chocolate have melted to make a smooth sauce.  Remove the vanilla bean, cool the sauce and add the eggs.
Pour the sauce over the pecans.  Bake the pie for approximately 40 minutes or until the centre of the pie has set (it will wobble slightly when lightly nudged if it needs more time in the oven).  Remove from the oven onto a wire rack to cool, then place in the fridge for at least four hours to set (it will crumble if cut earlier). 
Cut into wedges and serve.

Mini Mince and Cheese Pies

For our High Tea Picnic we each decided to bring something sweet and something savoury.  For my savoury option I had a go at making little mince and cheese pies.  There were a lot easier than I thought they would be too!  These pies are a great idea for a picnic, something different for lunch or individual dinners.  I made 10 mini pies for our picnic and used up the remaining mince mixture by making larger pies for dinner using some ramekins (see picture below).  For my smaller pies, I used some cute little tins, but I have written the recipe below so that you can make them just using a muffin tin.  If you want to make your pies so they stand on their own out of the tins for a while, you may want to change the pastry base to a shortcrust pastry and pre-bake it before putting the filling in, or you could make some pastry from the recipe I used to make Pork Pies out of.  I would still top them with puff pastry to give them a nice flaky pastry lid.

Makes at least 20 small savoury pies, or 8 ramekin sized pies.

Ingredients:
500g mince
½ onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely grated
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon flour
1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
2 cups beef stock
4 tablespoons tomato sauce
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
5 – 7 sheets puff pastry
Colby cheese, thinly sliced (enough to cover the top of each pie)
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

Method:
In a frying pan over medium heat, cook the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent.  Add the mince and carrot, frying until the mince is browned.
Add the Worcestershire sauce, flour, mixed herbs, stock, tomato sauce and salt and pepper, and stir through the mince.  Reduce the frying pan to a low heat and cook the mince mixture, simmering, for 15 to 20 minutes.  Remove the mince from the frying pan and leave to cool (you can refrigerate it if you want).
Preheat the oven to 200°C. 
Grease 20 muffin tin holes (or 8 cup-sized ramekins) with butter and line each with pastry. Cut  circles out of the pastry, big enough to cover each pie.
Spoon the mince mixture into each pie case and top with slices of cheese.  Add the pie tops over each pie and sea around the edges using a fork.  Whisk the egg and milk together and brush over each pie top.  Using a knife, pierce a hole into the top of each pie.
Bake for 25 minutes or until the top is golden.  Leave to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

PIE: 80+ Pies and Pastry Delights

Who can resist a steaming-hot home-baked pie?  Whether it’s savoury or sweet, humble or gourmet, individual or family-sized, a tasty pie is an enduring Kiwi favourite.  Particularly good in winter, there is nothing more satisfying than eating a piping-hot, freshly baked pie, tart, quiche or even sausage roll which has just come out of the kitchen oven, brimming with various fillings enclosed in a buttery pastry. - Dean Brettschneider

I have to say, I agree with the above sentiments.  Doesn’t that little bit of gravy oozing out of that perfect golden pastry on the book cover make your mouth water?  Every time I look at it I wish I could smell or taste that pie. PIE is the newly released book by Dean Brettschneider, who you probably know as one of the judges on New Zealand’s Hottest Home Baker.

PIE is a beautiful book; hardcover and full of nice thick pages.  The photography by Aaron McLean is stunning.  I mean, pies are mostly brown in colour, yet every picture in the book looks different and appealing to the eye.

The book is not all meat pie recipes either.  It begins with a history lesson on the origins of pie and pie making in New Zealand.  Then comes the recipes.  There’s your classic Mince and Cheese and Bacon and Egg pies, then there are some more unusual offerings like a Coriander Chicken and Yoghurt Curry Pie or Shepherd’s Pies but cooked in jars.  PIE also contains a section called ‘not-quite-a-pie’ which covers recipes such as Sausage rolls and Cornish Pasties.  And, as I said, not all the recipes are for meat dishes either.  There is a huge selection of sweet treats to make ranging from whoopie pies to tarts and shortcake. 

Towards the back of the book is a ‘basic recipes’ section which includes recipes for a variety of different pastries.  Did you know you there was such a thing as Gingerbread Puff Pastry?  Well now you do and you can make it too.

Head on over to the Penguin website for a squiz at a few more recipes from the book (I’m thinking I need to try making the Bacon, Carried Egg and Ricotta Pie - it sounds delish!).  We’ve published one for a Roast Pear and Blueberry Pie below – it sounds like the perfect recipe to make on a cold Winter’s night.  Penguin are also running a competition on their Facebook page – bake something from the book, post up a photo and you can win an awesome prize.  Check out the entries and vote, or why not enter yourself?

Roast Pear and Blueberry Pie

Makes a medium sized pie, serving 4 – 6 people

Pastry
1 quantity of Sour Cream and Lemon Pastry (Recipe on page 195 of the book)

Filling
6 ripe but firm pears, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm cubes
30g unsalted butter, melted
50g brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
juice of 1 lemon
200g blueberries

Glaze
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water,for egg wash
1 tablespoon raw sugar, for sprinkling

Make a quantity of Sour Cream and Lemon Pastry ahead and rest it as required. Divide pastry into two portions (two-thirds for base and one-third for top). On a lightly floured surface, roll out the larger portion to approximately 3mm thick to line a 22cm × 15cm pie dish (5cm deep). Lightly oil pie dish and line with pastry, allowing a little overhang.
Roll remaining pastry for the top of the pie so it’s just larger than the pie dish. Cut small holes in the top of the top pastry, 5mm apart. Place on a baking paper-lined oven tray. Refrigerate pastry base and top until chilled (30 minutes).
Put cubed pear in a bowl and add butter, sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice, tossing well to combine. Transfer to a baking dish that holds them snugly.
Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 20–30 minutes or until pears are softened but still holding their shape. Remove from oven and transfer to a bowl, adding the blueberries while the pears are still warm. Mix well. Allow to cool slightly (20 minutes), then drain through a sieve to remove excess liquid.
Take pastry from refrigerator and spoon fruit mixture into the lined pie dish. Brush the rim of the pastry case with egg wash, then drape remaining pastry over the pie dish. Trim, then press pastry edges firmly together to seal. Crimp the rim using your forefinger and thumb.
Brush the pastry with egg wash, then sprinkle with raw sugar.
Bake in a preheated 180°C oven for 35–40 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and golden-brown in colour.

Reproduced with permission from Pie by DeanBrettschneider. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $54.99. Copyright© Dean Brettschneider, 2012. Copyright photography © Aaron McLean,2012

Banoffee Pie

I have made this so many times and I’ve never been able to capture a photo and share it on here with you.  It’s one of my last minute desserts to take to someone's place, so it is always dark when it gets eaten, which makes for stink photos.  I also I don’t want to stop everyone from eating it while I play around snapping pictures; it’s kinda embarrassing.  So, the picture above is the first time I have managed to capture this pie in a picture and I only managed to photograph a slice because the rest had been eaten!  This pie is super quick to make and is really tasty.  Caramel and banana is such a good combination!

1 cup biscuit crumbs (we use Farmbake Choc Chip Fudge Cookies)
⅓ cup butter, melted
3 bananas
2 x 395g cans caramel sweetened condensed milk
80g cream
1 flake chocolate bar
Optional:
1 teaspoon gelatine
2 teaspoons hot water

Mix the biscuit crumbs together with the melted butter and press into a 20cm round spring-form tin.  Chop the banana into thin slices and layer over the top of the biscuit base.
Spread the caramel condensed milk over the banana layer.  If you want a firmer caramel layer, mix the gelatin into the hot water and mix through the caramel before pouring it on the bananas.
Whip up the cream and spread it over the caramel layer.  Crush up the flake bar and sprinkle the chocolate over the cream.  Place in the fridge to set for at least 2 – 3 hours before serving.

Sour Cream and Chives Chicken Pot Pies

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year!
Simon and I received a few boxes of chocolates for Christmas so the thought of baking something sweet makes me feel a little ill at the moment; I’m already eating too much sugar.  So, here is something a little different for you if you’re feeling like me and need a little break from the sweet treats.  These Chicken pies are delish – they are super tasty and look pretty special in their individual ramekins.  They are quick and easy to whip up so I’ve made them a few times for dinner already :)

Serves 2

200g cooked chicken, chopped
¼ cup sour cream
75g grated cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons chopped chives
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 sheet store bought puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 180°C.  Combine the chicken, sour cream, cheese, chives, salt and pepper.
Cut two circle shapes out of the pastry to cover the top of two 1 cup capacity ramekins.  Divide the mixture between the ramekins and top with the pastry circles.  Brush the pastry with the egg and bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.

English Pork Pies

Last Thursday evening Simon and I went to an English Pork Pie workshop that I had booked us at The Gourmet Gannet, a cooking school out in Muriwai.  We got taught how to make these cute little pies by Allison Mawer who was a very helpful and patient teacher (and runs a fab food blog Pease Pudding), then we got to have a go ourselves.  And, I think the pie class was awesome timing too, as Simon took his English Pork Pies to his friends house the next night and ate them while watching the Royal wedding :)

 
You can have a go at making your own pies too.  You will need:

Pastry:
75g lard
50ml water
225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 egg, beaten, for brushing

Pork Pie Filling:
500g should of pork, half finely chopped, half minced
3 rashers streaky bacon, finely chopped
½ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to season
handful of chopped sage

Preheat the oven to 180˚C.
For the pastry, place the lard and water into a small pan and gently heat until the lard has melted.  Sift the flour into a large bowl and season with salt and pepper and mix well.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the warm lard mixture.  Mix well to combine, until the mixture comes together to form a dough.  Knead for a few minutes, then form into a ball and set aside.

For the pie filling, place all of the pie filling ingredients into a large bowl and mix well.

On a floured work surface, roll out the pastry to about 3 or 4 millimetres thick.  Cut out 12 circles – 6 at 12cm, and 6 at 8cm in diameter.  We traced around saucers and used glasses for this.  Dust the base of a small jar, or a glass (what we used), or if you’re a fancy pants – a pork pie dolly, with flour.  Place the centre of one of the larger pastry circles over the base of the glass and draw the pastry down around the glass to make a cup.  You want to be careful here not to pull the pastry down the glass and make it too thin, rather, you just want to fold the pastry over the glass and push out any pleats created by the pastry in the process.  Carefully remove the pastry from the glass so you are left with a little pastry cup that can stand on its own.

Roll some pork pie filling into a ball and carefully place into the bottom of the pastry case.

Brush the top inner parts of the case with some of the beaten egg or some water and place one of the smaller pastry circles on the top.  Pinch the edges of the pastry together to seal the pie.  Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash.

Repeat the process with the remaining 5 pastry circles.  Bake in the oven for 35 minutes, until the top of the pie is golden brown.

 
If you are interested going to a cooking class, The Gourmet Gannet runs a variety of different classes such as making your own cheese, sausages, and even croissants :)

 
The Gourmet Gannet
6 Edwin Mitchelson Road, Muriwai Beach, Auckland
Ph: 09 411 8847
E: Allison@gourmetgannet.co.nz
www.gourmetgannet.co.nz

Dirk’s Lemon Meringue Pie

Simon’s work mate Dirk reckons he can make a pretty good Lemon Meringue Pie.  Since I love lemony deserts I kept this little factoid in my memory, reminded Simon numerous times, and what do ya know?…  during the weekend we went and hung out with Dirk while he made us a Lemon Meringue Pie.  The pie was awesomely good and I got the recipe :) 

  Dirk and Dayle in action! 

You will need:

250g packet plain biscuits, crushed
3 tablespoons sugar
3 eggs
395g can sweetened condensed milk
½ cup lemon juice (approx. 3 lemons)
3 tablespoons caster sugar
170g margarine, melted

Grease a 17.5cm x 28cm baking dish.  Mix the biscuits, sugar and the melted butter together.  Press the biscuit mixture into the prepared dish.

Separate the eggs.  Add the yolks to the condensed milk and mix until combined.  Add the lemon juice and mix again.  Pour over the biscuit base and bake in a 180˚C oven for 10 minutes, until brown.

Beat the egg whites until stiff.  Add the caster sugar and beat again until stiff. 

 
Spoon the meringue mixture over the lemon filling.  Bake in a 170˚C oven for approximately 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Above is a piece of Dirk’s pie, which we ate warm because Simon and I were impatient.  So good.  Although, cold is just as yum too :)

Thanks Dirk!

Little and Friday

 
Simon took me to this cute wee place on Saturday.  One of his clients collects Crown Lynn and he was telling them how I am a fan of Crown Lynn – they suggested taking me to Little and Friday because I would love it.  They were correct :)

 
Little and Friday is adorable.  There is one massive white table inside with various cakes acting as a centrepiece accompanied by little cups and saucers with ribbons tied around them.  The out door tables and shelves inside are old white-washed crates.  Everything in the cabinet looked delicious and is all made on site.  We purchased so much stuff that I can’t remember what everything was called :P

They don’t have a website, but you can check out their cake menu.  They are open Wednesday – Sunday. 

Little and Friday
43c Eversleigh Road, Takapuna, Auckland
P: (09) 489 8527

Pecan Pie

After making my inspiration collage on pecan pie, I finally built up the courage to give making one a go :)  It was really easy – I don’t know what I was so scared of.  The butterscotch sauce that you make to pour over the pecans is divine – I kept eating it while I was trying to cool it down to add the eggs in.  I suspect this pie is not very friendly on the hips, but you know what, it tastes too good to pass up.

Serves about 10.

Sweet short pastry:
2 cups standard flour
1 ¼ cups icing sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
250g cold butter, cubed
2 –3 tablespoons icy water

Place all the ingredients – except the water – into a food processor.  Pulse until combined.
With the motor running, add enough water to the dough to form a ball.
Press into a greased 25cm round flan pan.  Chill for 1 hour.

Filling:
350g pecans, chopped coarsely
1 vanilla bean
2 cups cream
1 ¾ cups brown sugar
100g butter
2 eggs, beaten

Preheat the oven to 170˚C.  Place an oven tray in the middle of the oven to heat.
Place the pecans onto the uncooked pastry base.
Slice the vanilla bean in half and place it with all the ingredients – except the eggs – in a saucepan.  Heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves to make a butterscotch sauce.  Remove the vanilla bean, cool the sauce and add the eggs.

Pour the sauce over the pecans.  Place the flan pan in the oven tray and fan bake for 1 ¼ hours or until the pie has just set.  Serve in wedges.

 

Done.  Easy as pie aye?

Inspiration: Pecan Pie

I made this collage just for me.  I love Pecan Pie and I want to give making one a go, but I am a little scared.  They look complicated.

Bacon & Egg Pie

 
This is a favourite in our household at anytime of the year. It is super easy to make and sure to please!

All you need is:
2 sheets of rolled out flaky puff pastry
8 eggs
200g of bacon, chopped into small pieces
3 tablespoons of milk
A small handful of tasty cheese
salt and pepper to season
flour

1. Dust your pastry sheets with flour, roll out and place in a pie dish.
2. Break 8 eggs into a large bowl, add milk, cheese, salt and pepper, and mix.
3. Add bacon to egg mix and stir.
4. Pour bacon and egg mixture into the pastry lined pie dish and put it into the oven for 35-45 minutes at 180˚C.

Shopping Successes

These delightful little things are Pain au Chocolate pastries.  I didn’t make them, they are produced by ‘The Pastryhouse’.  They come pre-made in a box, so all you have to do is heat and eat!  Easy peasy.
Another quick and easy, heat then eat treat that I have had recently is the ‘Apple Pie with Macadamia Nut Crumble’ by ‘I love Pies’.  It was soooo yummy!  They make meat pies too.  Check out their website – it’s quite cute.

Now, back to apples.  My most recent find (just got it to try today!) is ‘Apple Crumble gourmet probiotic yoghurt’ made by ‘The Collective Dairy’.  It is delicious and really does taste just like apple crumble.  Mmmmm mmmm.
Their website is also very cute, showcases their product range (they make cheeses too) and is very informative.

For stockists or more information on these products, click on the links above.  Also, you know what else?  All of this gorgeous food is made right here in New Zealand.  LOVE.

High Tea

Over the summer Melissa and I went to high tea, at the Langham Hotel in central Auckland. We really enjoyed it but thought we could probably do better ourselves.  Over the weekend we put this theory to the test and made high tea for a group of the girls we work with.

We had a fantastic time putting it together and an even better time sitting down to enjoy it with friends. Our menu consisted of cupcakes, caramel brûlée slice, mini bacon and egg pies, melting moments, scones with jam and cream, and petite sandwiches.

There will be numerous posts to follow with recipes, so you too can create the delicious goodies we enjoyed or maybe even put together your own high tea.