Pie #51: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Pie (Bumbleberry Pie)

Wow, I love this pie!  Let me list three reasons why:

1. I felt resourceful making it - it used up all the extra fruits in my fridge.  (Indeed, bumbleberries do not exist in the wild!)
2. The mixture of fruit flavors felt like a circus on my tongue.
3. The crunch topping was just delightful.

We took the pie to our friends' house for dinner, and it was a hit!  There was even arm wrestling discussed to determine the lucky winner of the last piece! (In the end a fair splitting occurred.)

The initial bumbleberry idea came from this website: http://andreadekker.com/bumbleberry-pie/.  However, the recipe I used actually came from a mixture of my earlier blueberry pie and strawberry rhubarb pie.  I think the clove and berry flavors are delightful, and when combined with the tangy rhubarb....Wow!  Just Wow!

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Bumbleberry Pie

Ingredients:
1 pie crust

filling:
4 c. (heaping) mixed fruit - apples, rhubarb, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
2/3 c. sugar
7 T. cornstarch
1/2 t. cinnamon
3 shakes ground cloves
3 T. water
2 T. lemon juice
1 t. vanilla

topping:
1/2 c. flour
3/8 c. oatmeal
1/2 c. brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 c. butter
1/2 t. cinnamon

Pie Algorithm:
1. Wash fruit, chop larger fruits to the size of blueberries.  Put in bottom of unbaked crust.
2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and cloves in bowl. Add water, lemon juice, and vanilla.  Stir until mixed well.  Pour mixture over fruit.
3. Mix flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, butter, and cinnamon until crumbly.  Sprinkle on top of fruit.
4. Bake at 375F for 1 hour, or until filling is bubbling and has thickened a bit.

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I suggest chopping the larger fruits into fairly small pieces so the flavors are able to mix better.  However, if you'd rather more distinct fruit flavors, larger pieces would work just fine.

I was excited to be able to use my friend Johanna's homemade vanilla extract in the pie.  I think it added a special, warm, complete flavor!  Perhaps tackling vanilla-making will have to be my next project!

Pie #47: Chocolate Cloud Pie (Chocolate Mousse Pie)

This week the pie-making was all about efficiency as there were too many things to do and not enough time to do everything.  So, I found myself asking questions like:

What pie would take a short time to make?
What pie would be good in a store-purchased cookie crust?
What pie would require minimal dishes to be washed?

I arrived on Chocolate Mousse Pie, and took the recipe from the back of the DREAM WHIP Whipped Topping box.

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Chocolate Mousse Pie

Ingredients:
2 envelopes DREAM WHIP Whipped Topping Mix
2 3/4 c. cold milk, divided
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. almond extract (optional)
2 pkg. (4-serving size each) JELL-O Instant Pudding & Pie Filling, chocolate
1 Oreo pie crust
red raspberries

Pie Algorithm:
1. Beat whipped topping mixes, 1 cup of the milk and vanilla in large bowl with electric mixer on high speed 6 minutes or until topping thickens and forms peaks.

2. Add remaining 1 3/4 cups milk, pudding mixes, and almond extract; beat on low speed.  Beat on high speed 2 minutes, scraping bowl occasionally.  Spoon into pastry shell.

3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours.  Garnish with raspberries.  Store leftover pie (if any!) in refrigerator.  Makes 8 servings.

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I LOVE chocolate mousse, and thought the almond flavoring was a nice addition.  Perry also really seemed to like the pie.  As he enjoyed some last night he exclaimed, "It's like licking a chocolate pillow, or a chocolate cloud!"  I haven't seen him this excited about pie in a while.  That means this pie gets high ratings for being easy to make and delicious!

Pie #36: Delight Pie (Cream Cheese Pie)

Recently Perry and I did a survey of the pies we have consumed over the past 9 months.  We ranked each pie using a likert scale with values:

• 3 = "I would request this pie to be made."
• 2 = "I would eat this pie if it was around."
• 1 = "I would not eat this pie again."

It was interesting to see the similarities and differences in the ratings Perry and I gave to the pies.  Out of the 34 pies in the survey, only three received top honors from both Perry and I: Pie #4: Blueberry Lattice Pie, Pie #13: Salty Caramel Apple Pie, and Pie #30: Peanut Butter Pie.

Only two pies received reviews that were on the opposite ends of the spectrum (a '3' from one of us and a '1' from the other).  Perry loved Pie # 3: Butter Brickle Banana Cream Pie while I loved Pie #25: Grapefruit Pie.

One pie received a '1' from both of us: Pie #20: Chai-Pear Pie. (It looks like time has skewed our memory; looking back we both seemed to like the pie at the time!)

To me, the most interesting part of this little survey was how the likert scale was interpreted.  Overall Perry had 26 pies that he rated as a '2', while I only had 13 pies rated with a number '2'.  (We both had the same number of '1' ratings.)  Generally speaking I would say that Perry loves pie more than I do, however when rating the pies he gave fewer top marks.  I'm not sure what all of this means, but I definitely find it interesting!

This week's pie would receive a '3' from me.  My friend Kathy brought this delicious pie to the Piecemaker fundraiser a few weeks back, and I had to have the recipe for my project!  The pie reminds me of the Cherry Delight dessert Wandi would often make when I was kid.  I really like the raspberry substitute for cherry, and think that making a fresh fruit compote during the summer months would be simply wonderful.

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Cream Cheese Pie
Kathy Bauman
(serves 8)

Ingredients:
Crust:
1 1/2 c. graham cracker crumbs
1/3 c. butter or margarine
2 T. powdered sugar

Filling:
8 oz cream cheese
1 c. powdered sugar
8 oz cool whip

1 can fruit pie filling (Cherry or blueberry was suggested, but I love raspberry!)

Pie Algorithm:
1. Crust: Mix together and press into a 9-inch pie pan.

2. Filling: Whip cream cheese, add powdered sugar and mix together, then add cool whip.

3. Put cream filling into cracker crust and top with pie filling.  Let cool in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

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Pie #34: Heart Pie (Pear-Raspberry Heart Pie)

 

Like last week's pie, this week's pie is also a twist on my childhood holiday experience.  Every year for Valentine's Day Wandi made us heart-shaped pizza, complete with heart-shaped ham pieces.  (She also reminded me this week that we always had heart-shaped finger jello and cookies too...but those items had escaped my memory.)  I decided to alter this tradition a bit to fit with my pie theme, and found another interesting recipe from Martha Stewart's New Pies and Tarts.  My adaptation to the recipe is found below, but you can find her recipe here.

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Pear-Raspberry Heart Pie

Ingredients:
2 pie crusts (9-inch)

1/2 cup sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3-4 ripe Bartlett pears, peeled, core removed, and cut into thin slices
6-9 ounces raspberries
fresh lemon juice (1/2 a lemon's worth)
1 ounce (2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

water for brushing
Sanding sugar, for sprinkling

Pie Algorithm:
1. Place first crust in a pie dish, allowing a bit of extra crust to hang over the edges of the dish.  Cut out hearts from the other crust.  (My hearts were close to 3 inches.)

2. Whisk together sugar, cornstarch, salt, and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add pears, raspberries, and lemon juice, and toss to coat. Spoon mixture into pie shell, piling high in the center. Dot with butter.

3. Lightly brush edges of crust with water. Arrange hearts in two layers around the edge of the pie, pressing dough together gently. Add more water as needed to help the hearts stick to each other and to the edge of the crust.  When finished, lightly brush the top of the crust with water and then dust with sanding sugar.

4. Bake at 400F for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust turns light gold.  Then reduce oven temperature to 375F. Bake, rotating halfway through, until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, about 85 minutes. Let cool before serving.

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The pie is beautiful, and smells delightful!  I can hardly wait until it cools!

Pie #8: Summer in Ohio Pie (Raspberry Sweet Corn Pie)

Summer may be my favorite season, if only for the fresh produce! I love eating Sun-warmed tomatoes straight from the garden, consuming meals consisting only of sweet corn, and popping juicy raspberries from the bush to my mouth one-by-one. I think Jeni Britton Bauer of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams got it right with her Sweet Corn and Black Raspberries Ice Cream. Inspired by this non-conventional combination, I decided to try my hand at creating a corresponding pie this week.

The recipe I started with is my great-grandma Dorothy's Ground Cherry Pie recipe, which will hopefully appear in the blog in a few weeks. Earlier this week I tried a few substitutions to this recipe, but it simply was not 'corny' enough. However trying again today I was able to get much closer to the flavor I was envisioning.

Milking the corn was a bit challenging. The steps listed below seemed to work fairly well, but I'm sure there may be a better method out there. I found that when cutting off the kernel caps, the more corn left on the cob, the better. The sliced kernel caps should be more like confetti than kernels of corn. The pictures above give an idea of how much to cut off and how much to leave on.

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Raspberry Sweet Corn Pie

Ingredients:
1 uncooked pie shell (9 inches)

1 c. raspberries (approx)
4 ears of fresh sweet corn
1 c. sugar
1 T. flour
2 eggs
1/2 c. milk

Pie Algorithm:
1. Cut the caps off each kernel of corn (be careful just to take the caps, don't shave more than necessary).  Put cob in bowl and scrape your knife against it to remove the milk and the pulp from each kernel.  Mix the corn milk and pulp with the regular milk.  Heat this mixture in a small saucepan over medium heat just until you see the first boiling around the edge of the pan.  (The milk mixture will be thicker than before.)  Strain to remove pulp.  Set aside.

2. Put clean berries in bottom of pie shell.  Berries should cover entire bottom, but should be only 1 layer thick.

3. Whisk sugar, flour, and eggs in medium-sized bowl.  When mixed, add strained milk mixture.  Pour over berries in shell.

4. Bake at 400F for 10 min, then turn down heat to 350F and bake for 40 min more.  Pie should be mostly solid (but will be slightly jiggly) when done.

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The hint of sweet corn mixed with the tart berries makes for a complex and delicate flavor combination.  I definitely would make the pie again.  However, I think it would be better served as a special-occasion pie rather than a kitchen-standard pie.

I realized earlier this week that the blog has been lacking in the math department recently.  Since the entirety of this post is a bit corny, I thought I'd leave you with a math-related joke:

What did the zero say to the eight?

Nice Belt!