For the love of Johnny Cash: pecan pie

hello! I'm Johnny Cash! Wait. No. I'm not Johnny Cash.

Lately I've been developing minor obsessions with random things. Butternut squash soup (I've eaten at least once a week for the past two months), cranberries and red stuff are a few of them. But there's one that's getting serious. And that's my love for Johnny Cash.

I can't believe I spent 24 years of my life without listening to his music. Seriously folks, what's not to love? I guess I like the idea of the 'tortured' guy that finds redemption through his songs.

And the love story! Jeez! the poor guy spends years trying to marry June Carter and she keeps saying no (what were you thinking June?). Finally they get married and they live together for 35 years. Then she dies. 4 months after he dies as well. Isn't it the most romantic story ever? Ok, I'm getting super cheesy here.

Anyway,  a few days ago I thought... What about I make a southern recipe as a tribute to Johnny? 

Since I couldn't find any typical Arkansas or Tennessee desserts, I chose a traditional and delicious Pecan Pie.

Yes, I know. At this point you're thinking:

A) I have a terrible taste for music

B) I'm suffering a terrible mental disorder

C) Both A and B combined

Well, even if you think I'm nuts, please, please, make this pie! The crust is flaky, the brown sugar caramelizes the pecans and the sides of the crust, the custard part is soft and gooey...

Oh! and unlike the traditional pecan pie, this one doesn't have corn syrup, just brown sugar! No super refined anything!

For the crust (adapted from Smitten Kitchen):

1 1/4 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 stick of butter
1/4 cup very cold water

In a bowl mix flour sugar and salt. Then cut the butter (cold) into cubes and mix it with the dry ingredients with a pastry tool or your hands, until pebbles form. You should be able to incorporate all the dry mix into the butter. Add the cold water and work the dough until it comes together as a ball. At this point you can refrigerate for a couple hours before rolling. I didn't have time so I rolled right away.

Blind bake the crust at 350 F for 15 min. Don't overbake. The crust is gonna be in the oven for an hour when you add the filling to the pie. You don't want it to burn.

For the filling ( very adapted from here):

3 large eggs

3/4 cups water

1/2 stick of butter, melted

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup amaretto liqueur, rum or brandy

1 1/2 cups pecans

Preheat oven to 325 F

In a bowl mix together the eggs and water until frothy. Add the sugar and mix until incorporated. Add the melted butter (not warm, you don't want to curdle the eggs), the vanilla extract and the liqueur.

On the bottom of your baked crust, place the pecans. Pour the custard mixture over them, they'll float to the surface. Bake for an hour or until the center of the pie is set.

This pie is better the day it's made and it's even better with Johnny as a soundtrack. If you have any leftovers (I doubt it), I'd recommend reheating it in the microwave for a couple minutes before eating.

Enjoy y'all!

Coconut cream meringue pie

This is a weird pie. I'm telling you. Not that it tastes weird, but it has some funky ingredients in it. That said, it's a coconut lover's dream. And my friend Amanda is one of them.

A couple months ago I won a contest and received a bunch of coconut stuff at home. The pack included coconut cream and coconut oil so I figured using them would make the pie even more coconutty.

To make it extra extra special I used a chocolate pie crust. Looks good huh? On top of that, the actual pie filling plus a generous dusting with coconut flakes and of course, there's no pie without meringue on top. I love meringue. My mum loves meringue. It's a family thing you know.

Here are the ingredients and the possible substitutions.

For the chocolate crust
1 cup flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 sticks unsalted butter, very cold cubed
1/4 cup very cold water

For the filling
8 tablespoons coconut cream + 2 cups of water (substitute for 2 cups coconut milk)
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons coconut oil (substitute for 2 tbsp butter)
1/4 cup cornstarch
(2/3 cup sugar, optional, I didn't add it)

For filling topping use 1 cup coconut flakes

For the meringue
3 egg whites
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
4 tablespoons sugar

To make the crust:
In a bowl, mix cocoa powder and flour until well combined. Add the cubed cold butter and mix with your hands, two knifes or a pastry cutter until pebbles form. Add the water and mix until smooth. Don't be lazy! Get your workout of the day!

Blind bake the crust at 350 F for 15 min.

To make the filling:
In a saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, coconut milk (cream + water) and coconut oil. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Second part of your workout: you're gonna have to whisk well to incorporate the cornstarch. If you get too tired you can always use a handmixer with a whisk attachment. Stir a small amount of the mix into the egg yolks and whisk well. This will bring the eggs to the mix temperature and prevent them from curdling. Add a little more mix, you can never be too cautious. Now add the eggs to the rest of the mix and cook for 2 minutes while whisking. Pour hot filling into the baked crust. Let it cool down for about 10 min and sprinkle with the coconut flakes. Set aside and let it come to room temperature.

To make the meringue and assemble the cake
Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a bowl, preferably cold, add the egg whites and start whipping. When soft peaks form, add the cream of tartar and the sugar. Keep beating until hard picks form. Drop by tablespoonfuls (or pipe with a bag) over filling. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the meringue is golden. Cool on a wire rack for an hour and then transfer to the fridge for at least 2 hrs before serving.

After the hard work, eat a big piece!

If life gives you lemons, bake with them!

I'm all into lemony stuff recently... I really wanted to learn how to make whoopie pies and new year's eve was the perfect excuse... but my list of lemon desire included lemon poundcake, which wento to one of my labmates.

Lemon whoopie pies

Maybe not on the beautiful side but definitely on the tasty one...

For the pies:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated

1 egg

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk

For the filling:

Half a package cream cheese (4 ounces)

1 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Juice of a lemon

Note: I added also a tablespoon of concentrated lemon juice (the store bought one). The amount of lemon and sugar is totally relative to how much you like to taste both the cream cheese and the lemon. Adjust to taste.

Preheat oven to 350F

Beat together sugar and butter until fluffly. Beat in the egg, vanilla and lemon zest. Add the milk and mix well. Stir in the flour, baking powder and baking soda. Mix until all the flour is incorporated. Do not overmix.

Place tablespoons of dough into a greased pan and bake for about 10 min, until golden on the edges.

To make the filling beat together the cream cheese (better if softened at room temperature), sugar and lemon juice. Place by tablespoons or with a piping bag on one pie and cover with another pie. If the filling is too liquid, harden by refrigerating for half an hour.

Lemon poundcake

1 1/2 sticks butter

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 cups flour

Zest from 1 lemon

3 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cream cheese

Preheat oven to 325 F

Cream butter and sugar together. Stir in the lemon zest. Add the eggs one by one and the vanilla extract and keep mixing. Mix in the cream cheese until smooth. Add the flour. Place dough into a greased loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hr and 15 min. Or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Thanksgiving goodness

This was my second thanksgiving in the US and while last year I enjoyed the yummy stuff made by my roomates. This year though, I got to bake my first turkey, make cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But! I got to celebrate thanksgiving twice thanks to Kim's party, so it was time to make pumpkin cupcakes! Here are the recipes!


PUMPKIN CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder + 1/2 baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
2 large eggs
7.5 ounces canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

Important note! As you see, the amount of spices in this recipe is pretty low... Pumpkin doesn't really have much of a taste and needs to be spiced very well. I kept adding spices until the taste seemed about right. Around 2 teaspoons of each one of the spices plus a pinch of cloves.

Preheat oven to 350 F

Wisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. In another bowl, cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time and keep on mixing. Add the pumpkin and mix. Start adding the dry ingredient mix slowly while mixing. Place cupcake liners in a muffin pan and fill them almost to the top. Bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops spring back.

Cream cheese frosting

1 pound cream cheese
2 sticks of butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until fluffy. Add vanilla and confectioners sugar and mix well. If you want you can add food coloring to it. If using a piping bag is useful to put the frosting in the bag and cool it in the fridge for about half an hour.



PUMPKIN PIE

This was it before baking. I used Paula Deen's recipe and it turned out gorgeous, soft and yummy.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/pumpkin-pie-recipe/index.html