Quickest Pecan Tart

From the best dessert recipe book ever in 2120 Grace Garden...or anywhere. Shua used to make this for our house prayer times. Oh, that sweet, sweet girl. Don't expect a pecan pie but chewy, mellow caramelized sweetness with lots of pecans and a crumbly crust.

I couldn't wait after it came out of the oven and ate it out of the pie tin a bit early, but the filling oozed out. Not that that's a problem or anything.

Rather than a tart pan with a removable bottom, I used a regular pie tin. Also, other sites recommend pressing and smoothing down the crumbs into the pan using the backside of a metal measuring cup. A lot easier than using my stubby fingers that only make lumpy crusts.

8 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 1/3 C graham cracker crumbs (11 sheets)
½ C firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt (optional)
¼ C light corn syrup
2 Tbsp half and half or heavy cream
2 C pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt 5 Tbsp of the butter in a saucepan, stir in the graham cracker crumbs. Press the graham crackers mixture evenly across the bottom of a 9” tart pan with a removable bottom, and all the way up the sides of the tart pan, packing it tightly with your fingertips so it is even and compacted. Place the pan in the freezer until ready to use.

Combine the remaining 3 Tbsp butter, the brown sugar, and corn syrup in the medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Boil for 1 minute, stir in the cream and pecans, and boil for another 3 minutes.

Pour the hot filling into the tart pan and use a spoon to distribute the nuts evenly across the pan. Bake until the filling is bubbling and slightly browned, about 10 minutes. Cool completely on the rack before removing the sides of the pan and serving. 

All Veggie Quiche with Avocado Crema

Next time, I'll try adding 1/2 C chopped tomatoes.

1 (9 inch) baked pastry shell

1 cup chopped onion (half of a large one)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 C poblano chile (or 1 medium green bell pepper), seeded and chopped
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 C baby spinach

1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp basil
1 tsp soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

3 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Paprika sprinkled on top for color

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute the onion until soft and translucent, add garlic. Add all the spices, then add all the vegetables and cook well until all water has been cooked out.

In a bowl, beat eggs. Add the milk and 3/4 of the cheese; mix well. Carefully pour over vegetables. Bake for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese and paprika. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting. Serve on a bed of mixed greens and serve with...

Avocado Crema
1/2 of avocado, mashed
dash of powder garlic
1 Tbsp sour cream or yogurt
dash of salt and pepper
a little bit of minced cilantro (to taste)

Serves 4-5

Mrs. Cowper's Buttermilk Pie

The top of the filling turns out crunchy, like the caramelized crust of a creme brulee, but with a more eggy portion on the bottom much like an egg tart. TOO SWEET. The ingredients on the left is what I used today, but I put suggestions (in the parentheses) for improvements. Definitely an easy way to use leftover buttermilk.

1 C sugar (but I suggest cutting it down to 3/4 C)
1/4 C butter, melted
3 large eggs, lightly beaten (4 eggs to make it less sweet)
1 Tbsp flour (I'll try 2 Tbsp next time)
1/2 C buttermilk (also try 1 C buttermilk)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 unbaked 9" pastry shell

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Beat eggs slightly and add sugar and flour. Then add melted butter and mix well. Add buttermilk and vanilla and mix.
Dust the unbaked pie shell with a little bit of flour. Pour batter into shell, and then sprinkle a little more flour on top.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes and then decrease temperature to 325 and bake until the custard is set, approximately 1 hour.
Serve at room temperature. When it's straight out of the oven, the crust is soggy and soft but as it cools, I guess the shortening/crisco solidifies?

Makes 1 9" pie

Blueberry-Coconut Tart

One of the best things I've ever made and oh-so easy too! Not too sweet and fresh! Frozen blueberries don't quite cut it as they tend to bleed and get watery when baked. Definitely Carolyn Chu's favorite.

5 T unsalted butter
1 1/3 C graham cracker crumbs (1 clear package inside of the box)

1/3 C sugar
2 large eggs
½ C heavy cream
1 pint fresh blueberries, picked over for stems
1 C and ¼ C sweetened flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter, then combine with graham crackers. Press mixture evenly across the bottom and all the way up the sides of the 9” tart pan, packing it tightly with your fingers so it is even and compacted.

Whisk together the remaining 1/3 C sugar, the eggs, and heavy cream in the other bowl. Stir in 1 C coconut and gently stir in blueberries.

Spoon the filling into the tart pan, top with ¼ C coconut. Bake until mixture is slightly bubbling and browned, 45-50 minutes. Let cool completely on the rack before removing the sides of the pan and serving.

Makes 1 9" tart, from Instant Gratification

I had to steal this photo before anyone else devoured the rest of this pie. Ugly, yes. Tasty, yes.

Tar Heel Pie

“As I was perusing in a gourmet market here in good ole cackellackey, I came across this postcard and thought of you! (Can’t wait to taste it!) Anyway, even though we won’t be roommates this term, let’s try to still spend time together. I’ll be sure to stop by 2120. ☹ This will probably come after the training starts, but anyway, keep eating Christ—it’s the way!” Amen, my darling sister Phoebe Wang. Amen!

Definitely not the most attractive dessert in name nor appearance but really rich and tasty. Kind of like a fudgy brownie in a crust with pecans. I was really pleased with everything. Ahunna says it should be illegal. I’m sure she almost died.

1 C chocolate chips
1 stick butter, melted

1 C chopped pecans
1 tsp vanilla
½ C plain flour
½ C white sugar
½ C brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten

6 oz (it says 1 ½ C but I weighed it out) flour
½ stick unsalted butter, chilled
2-3 T water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.

Pour warm butter over chocolate chips and stir. Blend all remaining ingredients and stir into chocolate chip mixture. Pour into the unbaked pie shell and bake for 30-40 minutes.

Makes 1 9" pie

Macadamia Nut Tart

11.14.07 Made for the Adamos' Thanksgiving Dinner, which was ham AND turkey, and all the fixin's. Oh! How we love them! They are so sweet and cherishing!

I thought the crust was too egg-y, but I think that's because I used Xtra Large eggs and not large. Also, the nuts were wayyy salty. When they say unsalted, they mean it!

2.4.09 Jen's Baby Shower! This time, I made it in a 7" tart pan and there was leftover crust, filling and nuts but that's ok. Crust was not eggy but must remember to cook thoroughly until a nice golden brown otherwise, it will feel soggy later when you put in the filling. In response to Susanne and others who might be wondering: corn syrup is a must for that solid chewiness and how golden? Well, maybe like the top of the tart in the picture.

1 1/4 C flour
2 T brown sugar
1/4 t salt
1 stick cold unsalted butter
1 large egg yolk

1/2 C packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/4 t salt

2 T unsalted butter, melted
1/4 C light corn syrup
2 T dark rum
1 1/3 C unsalted macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat oven to 375°. In a food processor, whirl flour, 2 tbsp. brown sugar, and 1/4 tsp. salt. Add cold butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg yolk and pulse to combine. Add 2 tbsp. ice water, pulsing until mixture begins to come together in a ball.

Press into 9" round tart pan with 1" sides, prick bottom with a fork and chill in freezer 15 minutes. Bake until medium golden brown about 25-35 minutes, remove from oven.

Meanwhile, mix 1 egg, 1/2 C brown sugar and salt until pale and ribbony, 7-10 minutes. Beat in melted butter, corn syrup and rum. Pour mixture into tart shell and sprinkle with nuts.

Bake 25 minutes or until a knife inserted comes out clean and cool on wire rack for at least 1 hour. Serve with vanilla or ginger ice cream, if desired.

Makes 1 9" tart, 12 servings, from Sunset

Fresh Fruit Pie

First dessert for the College Meeting! It was pretty tasty--Manny tested and approved. The crust is easy to stretch out resulting in a shrunken crust, so be careful. Let the dough rest and don't roll too thin.

Crust
1 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C flour
2 T sugar
1/4 t salt
6 T butter
1 egg yolk
3-4 T cold water

Filling
1 8 0z. package of cream cheese
1/4 C sifted powdered sugar
1/4 C whipping cream (maybe substitute with milk next time)
1 T orange juice
1 t vanilla

Fruit Topping
3 kiwis cut into wedges
1/4 C blueberries (if frozen, defrosted and drained)
2 peaches cut into wedges
you can also use: raspberries, papaya, orange wedges, strawberries...anything citrus or berry like.

2 T apricot preserves (or marmalade)
1 t orange juice

Pastry
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Stir together flours, sugar, salt. Cut in butter with 2 knives or a pastry blender until it looks like course crumbs. Stir in egg yolk and then enough water to moisten and form a cohesive ball. Knead lightly a couple times, then roll out on a lightly floured surface till it's 12" in diameter for your 9" pan.

Trim pastry to 1/2" beyond the edge of pan, fold under, crimp as desired. Generously prick bottom and sides. Line with foil, bake for 10 min, then uncovered for 10 minutes. Cool on wire rack.

Filling
Beat cream cheese, powdered sugar until combined. Add whipping cream, or milk, oj, and vanilla beat until combined. Spoon into cooled pastry shell, cover and chill for at least 1 hour.

To serve
Arrange fruit on top of filling. Heat up the preserves and oj then drizzle over pie. (I just threw it in the microwave, but you can heat it in a saucepan).