OK, could anything be cuter than these?
,
Wait let me amend that, as I have the world's most beautiful baby staring me in the face as I type this. Could any food be cuter than these?
Last night we had the pleasure of meeting baby Eli, the 4 and-a-half month-old son of Jon's cousin Rachel, who is pretty darn cute himself. His grandparents invited us over for dinner & baby cuddling, and a meal at Alan and Idy's could only mean one thing: a metric ton of BBQ would be served. You may recall from a previous story that Alan is an expert meat-smoker and he did not disappoint. Despite the fact that there were only 6 adults in attendance, there were 15 pounds of chicken wings with 3 different kinds of barbecue sauce, and a whole mess of ribs (in 2 flavors) as well. Not to mention the baked beans (Archie's favorite!) and coleslaw and cucumber salad.
I knew I wanted to bring a dessert to complement this feast, and the blueberries are still going strong at our little neighborhood farmers' market so my thoughts of course went to pie. And then they went to the last time I tried to bring blueberry pie to a party, and I was running late so I didn't cook the filling long enough and it turned out all runny and made a terrific mess on the drive across town. Maybe individual-sized tart-like blueberry pies would be a little more transportable. (Plus, you know, a fully thickened filling might help.)
So I adapted my blueberry pie recipe - the main adaptations are to make twice as much dough and half as much blueberry filling as you would for a normal pie (although leftover filling makes a divine topping for vanilla ice cream), and bake the mini-pie crusts in a muffin tin. Oh, and start early enough that you have time to finish cooking and cooling everything before assembling the pies. Also, I have decided that while Rose Levy Berenbaum is a pastry goddess, my heart belongs to Russ Parsons and all-butter crusts when it comes to pie-making.
Mini Blueberry Pies
adapted from Amanda Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and Russ Parsons "How to Read a French Fry."
Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks butter, well chilled or frozen
4-6 Tablespoons ice water
For cream cheese filling
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For blueberry filling:
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons water
1 pint of fresh blueberries
1/2 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon butter
Instructions:
Prepare the pie crusts: Cut each stick of butter into 8 tablespoon-sized pieces.
Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor and pulse 3 times to mix. Add the butter cubes and process, pulsing about 8 times at 1-second intervals until the pieces of flour and butter are no bigger than peanuts. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse until butter is the size of small peas.
You can do the next step in the food processor, but I prefer to switch to a large bowl and mix it the rest of the way by hand. If after a few minutes of stirring it still appears dry and crumbly, add up to 2 more tablespoons of water, a teaspoon at a time, and stir until the dough holds together easily.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a 6-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450F. Roll out each piece of dough between 2 pieces of lightly floured parchment paper to form a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 6" circlces and line the cups of a muffin tin with the pie dough. Fold under the overhang of each mini pie and crimp the edges. Prick the base of the dough with a fork. Line the pie dough with foil and pour in pie weights. (You can also use dried beans or loose change.) Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350F and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove the foil and pie weights and let cool completely before filling.
Prepare the cream cheese filling: With a hand mixer or whisk, blend the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and heavy cream until light and smooth.
Prepare the blueberry filling: Put the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium pan. Add the water and 1 cup of the blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. This is the most exciting part of the recipe to watch. The liquid will turn lavender, then magenta, and then it will seize up and thicken, and after a minute or two, turn to a deep translucent blackish purple. Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour in the remaining blueberries and stir until coated. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Assemble the pies: Drop 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling into each pie shell and spread evenly over the bottom of the cooled pie dough. Dollop the blueberry mixture over the cream cheese in large spoonfuls, trying not to mush the cream cheese layer. There should be two distinct layers. Chill in the refrigerator for half an hour to set. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Makes 12 mini pies
Wait let me amend that, as I have the world's most beautiful baby staring me in the face as I type this. Could any food be cuter than these?
Last night we had the pleasure of meeting baby Eli, the 4 and-a-half month-old son of Jon's cousin Rachel, who is pretty darn cute himself. His grandparents invited us over for dinner & baby cuddling, and a meal at Alan and Idy's could only mean one thing: a metric ton of BBQ would be served. You may recall from a previous story that Alan is an expert meat-smoker and he did not disappoint. Despite the fact that there were only 6 adults in attendance, there were 15 pounds of chicken wings with 3 different kinds of barbecue sauce, and a whole mess of ribs (in 2 flavors) as well. Not to mention the baked beans (Archie's favorite!) and coleslaw and cucumber salad.
I knew I wanted to bring a dessert to complement this feast, and the blueberries are still going strong at our little neighborhood farmers' market so my thoughts of course went to pie. And then they went to the last time I tried to bring blueberry pie to a party, and I was running late so I didn't cook the filling long enough and it turned out all runny and made a terrific mess on the drive across town. Maybe individual-sized tart-like blueberry pies would be a little more transportable. (Plus, you know, a fully thickened filling might help.)
So I adapted my blueberry pie recipe - the main adaptations are to make twice as much dough and half as much blueberry filling as you would for a normal pie (although leftover filling makes a divine topping for vanilla ice cream), and bake the mini-pie crusts in a muffin tin. Oh, and start early enough that you have time to finish cooking and cooling everything before assembling the pies. Also, I have decided that while Rose Levy Berenbaum is a pastry goddess, my heart belongs to Russ Parsons and all-butter crusts when it comes to pie-making.
Mini Blueberry Pies
adapted from Amanda Hesser's "Cooking for Mr. Latte" and Russ Parsons "How to Read a French Fry."
Ingredients:
Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 sticks butter, well chilled or frozen
4-6 Tablespoons ice water
For cream cheese filling
4 oz cream cheese, at room temperature
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
For blueberry filling:
6 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
a pinch of salt
2 Tablespoons water
1 pint of fresh blueberries
1/2 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 Tablespoon butter
Instructions:
Prepare the pie crusts: Cut each stick of butter into 8 tablespoon-sized pieces.
Combine the flour, salt and baking powder in a food processor and pulse 3 times to mix. Add the butter cubes and process, pulsing about 8 times at 1-second intervals until the pieces of flour and butter are no bigger than peanuts. Add 4 tablespoons of ice water and pulse until butter is the size of small peas.
You can do the next step in the food processor, but I prefer to switch to a large bowl and mix it the rest of the way by hand. If after a few minutes of stirring it still appears dry and crumbly, add up to 2 more tablespoons of water, a teaspoon at a time, and stir until the dough holds together easily.
Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide it into two equal pieces. Form each piece into a 6-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
Preheat the oven to 450F. Roll out each piece of dough between 2 pieces of lightly floured parchment paper to form a circle about 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 6" circlces and line the cups of a muffin tin with the pie dough. Fold under the overhang of each mini pie and crimp the edges. Prick the base of the dough with a fork. Line the pie dough with foil and pour in pie weights. (You can also use dried beans or loose change.) Bake for 10 minutes, then turn down the heat to 350F and bake for 10 minutes more. Remove the foil and pie weights and let cool completely before filling.
Prepare the cream cheese filling: With a hand mixer or whisk, blend the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and heavy cream until light and smooth.
Prepare the blueberry filling: Put the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a medium pan. Add the water and 1 cup of the blueberries. Cook over medium heat, stirring often. This is the most exciting part of the recipe to watch. The liquid will turn lavender, then magenta, and then it will seize up and thicken, and after a minute or two, turn to a deep translucent blackish purple. Take it off the heat and stir in the lemon juice and butter. Pour in the remaining blueberries and stir until coated. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Assemble the pies: Drop 1 tablespoon of cream cheese filling into each pie shell and spread evenly over the bottom of the cooled pie dough. Dollop the blueberry mixture over the cream cheese in large spoonfuls, trying not to mush the cream cheese layer. There should be two distinct layers. Chill in the refrigerator for half an hour to set. Let it come to room temperature before serving.
Makes 12 mini pies
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