A Pie with Zing for Father's Day

Sweetie asked for a creamy pie for Father's Day, which is kind of funny considering all the fruit we have in the house...cherries, both red and Rainier versions,  plums from our tree, strawberries from the farm stand, raspberries, mandarins, apples and bananas.

Still, a creamy pie is less common than a fruit pie, so I went back to my recipes for banana cream and coconut cream and even chocolate silk. None of them seemed right, so I switched to doing a search on the Internet. After a bit of surfing, I found Atlantic Beach Pie on the Delish website and it sounded promising. It has a cracker crumb shell and a filling that included both lemon and lime flavors. A can of sweetened condensed milk thickened the filling and then it was baked for a short while and chilled. For garnish, whipped cream was decorated with wisps of lemon and lime zest.

As I often do, I made some changes. I prefer a graham cracker crust and I like that flavored with cinnamon. Making those two changes probably makes this nothing like an Atlantic Beach pie, but it ended up being a great change, especially when I used some melted butter, along with the softened butter, to pull the graham cracker crumbs together.

I also like a strong citrus flavor in a filling, so I stirred some extra lemon and lime zest into the filling. It really made the citrus zing and sing. I still used zest on the mounds of whipped cream for both decor and flavor.

This is the sort of recipe that has some parts that can be done on the day or you can do some and then finish on another day. The crust and filling can be done on one day, covered well, then kept in the fridge for a day or two before serving. The whipped cream and zest decor are done right before serving.

This is a delicious pie. Sweetie said it might be his favorite of all my pies. Of course that may be because he was thinking about a second piece!

I'm giving you the recipe as it is on Delish, except for the zest in the filling. If you prefer a graham cracker crust, use your favorite one or look one up on the 'net. I tried to modify this one and it took a lot of trial and error, so I wouldn't recommend doing that.

ATLANTIC BEACH PIE from Delish website

 Ingredients:

Cracker Crust

2 1/2 sleeves butter crackers (about 75 crackers/250 grams)
1/2 cup soft butter 
1/4 cup light brown sugar

Lemon-Lime Custard Filling

4 large egg yolks
2 large eggs
1 (14-oz.) can sweetened condensed milk
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 2 large lemons) {Note: zest the lemons first}
1/3 cup fresh lime juice (from about 3-4 large limes) {Note: zest the limes first}
1/2 teaspoon, each, lemon and lime zest

Whipped Cream Topping And Assembly

1 cup heavy cream
3 Tablespoons light brown sugar  
1 tsp. lemon zest
1 tsp. lemon zest
Flakey sea salt

Directions

Cracker Crust

Step 1 In a food processor, pulse crackers until finely ground with a few pea-size pieces remaining, 25 to 30 pulses. Add butter and brown sugar and continue to pulse until butter is incorporated and a crumbly dough starts to form, about 15 pulses.

Step 2 Transfer cracker mixture to a 9" glass pie pan. Press into an even layer in bottom and up sides of pan. Freeze 10 minutes.

Step 3 Preheat oven to 350°. Bake crust until deep golden brown and smells nutty and fragrant, about 15 minutes. Let cool slightly, about 10 minutes.

Lemon-Lime Custard Filling

Step 1 In a medium bowl, whisk egg yolks, eggs, and milk until combined. Add lemon juice and lime juice and whisk until smooth.

Step 2 Pour custard into pie shell. Continue to bake until center of pie is set but still slightly jiggly, about 18 minutes. 

Step 3 Transfer pie plate to a wire rack and let cool 1 hour. Place in refrigerator and chill until cold, about 2 hours. 

Whipped Cream Topping And Assembly

Step 1 Using an electric mixer on medium-high speed or a whisk, in a medium bowl, beat cream and brown sugar until stiff peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Using a piping bag or spatula, top cooled pie with whipped cream.

Step 2 Sprinkle with lemon zest and lime zest and a pinch of sea salt.

Step 3 Make Ahead: Pie can be made 4 days ahead. Cover pie plate with plastic and chill.

Fully Irish Bread

I've made Irish soda bread often, usually using the recipe given to me by Aunt May, a woman fully Irish and a great baker. The version of soda bread that I made recently is fully Irish because it's made with King Arthur Baking's Irish wholemeal flour which has flecks of bran and wheatgerm in it. It adds texture, flavor, and makes it just a bit crumbly, which I love.

As long as you have buttermilk (which not everyone does) and that specialty flour, most of the rest of the ingredients are pantry and fridge staples. I did tweak the recipe a bit by adding a 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans. This addition is particularly noticeable when the bread is warm. I've yet to try toasting a slice, but I bet that would be even better...warm and toasty. Yum! If you don't have the wholemeal flour, substitute whole wheat flour, or even just another cup of all-purpose. Lack of whole grain flour should not stop you from making this wonderful quick bread.

As with other quick breads where you want the bread to be tender, the less you handle this dough the better. Because you're also going for a rustic, craggy look, just pat the dough into roughly a round, cut that deep cross in the center and call it good. As the bread bakes it will become a bit more solid with a wonderful golden brown crust. Butter, jam, lemon curd and fruit are all great toppings for a slice. Just let it cool 10 or 15 minutes before slicing. Too warm soda bread will just fall apart if you slice it too soon!

Irish Soda Bread with Wholemeal Flour and Pecans

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup King Arthur Baking Irish Wholemeal flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

6 tablespoons sugar

8 oz. (1 stick) cold butter, in thin slices

½ cup finely chopped pecans

2 cups  plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl sift the dry ingredients over the butter and cut in well with a fork or pastry blender. Add the pecans ; mix well. Add the buttermilk and mix just until moist - don’t over-handle. Some dry stuff is OK but the dough should be sticky. Pat into a round on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cut a cross on top. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool a bit before slicing.

Strawberries and Rhubarb

It's been a while since I last posted, so you get a two-fer. We have a recipe for a galette and one for hand pies with a tender, buttery dough.

  Strawberries and rhubarb go really well together. Rhubarb, a kind of produce that I always think of as a spring treat,  is pretty expensive in the market, so I was thrilled when a friend who grows rhubarb gifted me with a few stalks. The dessert I decided to make first was a galette, so simple if you have pie dough already. The strawberries are from the farm stand on Hwy 12 that has the BEST strawberries. They are always sweet and juicy, never woody or tasteless. They do become overripe quickly, so we are always on the lookout for ways to use them. The second gift of rhubarb inspired me to make handpies. The pie dough is a butter-rich one that you make in a food processor. It's a little more difficult to handle than the ready made pie dough from the market, but it is really worth the effort.

For the galette, I started with a round of pie dough from the market, rolled it out a bit to make it a little larger because you fold dough towards the center with a galette.

The hulled and sliced strawberries were combined with the sliced rhubarb and some cornstarch, plus some sugar that had been rubbed together with a tablespoon of lemon zest freshly zested from a Myer lemon from our garden. 

It made a delicious and fairly easy dessert. Do try it yourself if you can get good strawberries and some rhubarb.

Another similar dessert with the same filling are little hand pies. They look a bit like toaster pop tarts, but are worlds better. I used a butter rich food processor pie dough and a filling that was a bit heavier on the rhubarb. A little sanding sugar on top and you have a wonderful treat. It had a great level of tartness, the buttery and tender crust and a bit of juice from the fruit. Turned out to be too delicate to eat out of your hand, but this is the time when a fork and plate are worth washing up.

Strawberry Rhubarb Rustic Galette
Serves 6-8

1 round rolled out pie dough - I use Pillsbury Ready Crust
1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
1-2 stalks fresh rhubarb, washed and sliced into 1/2 inch slices (you want about the same amount of fruit as the strawberries, or a bit less) 
zest of 1 small lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt

sanding sugar or granulated sugar (optional)

Roll the pie dough into a 12-inch round. Place it on a large piece of parchment paper and place that on a baking sheet (I used a 12-inch pizza pan).

In a medium bowl mix together the two fruits. In a small bowl place the zest and the sugar and, using clean fingers, rub the sugar and zest together until mixture resembles damp sand. Add the cornstarch and salt and mix well. Pour this mixture over the fruit mixture, then gently stir to combine. (I used my clean hands to combine, but a large spoon or a flexible spatula would probably work just fine.)

Mound the fruit mixture in the middle of the rolled our dough

You may have used your hands to do the mounding. I did! Then wash your hands, but leave them wet, or wet them if not already wet. The wet hands means that as you handle and pleat the dough the wetness will help the pleats hold together.

Use wet hands to pleat the dough up and over the fruit. Usually there is a small to medium opening in the top where you can see the fruit. This is a rustic pie, so don't worry if some pleats are closer together than others.

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F. If desired, put a baking stone on the lowest rack.

Use a pastry brush to lightly brush water over the dough and sprinkle lightly with granulated or sanding sugar. This step is optional.

When oven has finished preheating, bake the galette, with the parchment still on the baking sheet. If you are using a baking stone, place the baking sheet directly on the stone. This pie often releases a bit of juice. The parchment and baking sheet will capture that for easy cleanup. Placing the parchment on the stone or the pie on the stone will mean cleaning the stone and probably the bottom of your oven.

Bake until the pie dough is deep golden brown and the fruit is bubbling. Remove to a cooling rack and cool at least 1/2 hour. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Rhubarb-Strawberry Hand Pies
Makes 8

1 recipe butter-based food processor pie dough
1 1/2 pints strawberries, hilled and cut into dice
1-2 stalks fresh rhubarb, rinsed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces (you want a bit more rhubarb than strawberries for the hand pies, so be generous if you can).
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch

Granulated or sanding sugar (optional)

Make the food process or pie dough and let it chill. When shaping the discs prior to chilling, you may want the shape to be more square than circular.

While the dough is chilling, make the filling. Combine the strawberries and rhubarb in a medium bowl, then add the sugar and cornstarch and mix to combine. Set aside.

Once the dough is chilled, roll out one half the dough into a rectangle...or as close as you can to a rectangle about 10 x 12 inches. Use a ruler and sharp knife to cut the dough into a 9-inch x 11-inch rectangle with parallel sides and with corners at 45 degree angles. Then cut the dough in half one way and in half the other way.

You will end up with 4 rectangles, each 4.5 x 5.5 inches.

At the bottom of each rectangle mound about 3 tablespoons filling. One by one, wet the dough around where the filling is, then fold the dough over the filling, pushing down on the edges of the dough to seal. Use the tines of a fork to seal around the three sides. Place each one on a parchment-lined baking sheet. (I fit 4 on a parchment-lined pizza pan.) Repeat all the above steps with the second half of the dough.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

While the oven is heating, if desired, use a pastry brush to brush 1/2 & 1/2 or cream over the top and sealed edges of the hand pies, then sprinkle with sanding sugar.

Once the oven is up to temperature Bake the hand pies, switching the baking sheets front to back and upper rack to lower rack and vice versa to ensure even browning and baking. Bake until  hand pies are browned and the filling is bubbly...or even leaking a bit from the pie. Cool on a cooling rack until room temperature. Served warmed or at room temperature. These are somewhat delicate, so not the best for shipping.

                                                            Ready to bake

For both of the above recipes, leftovers should be stored, tightly covered, in the fridge.

Playing around: A great addition for the filling for either of these would be adding about a 1/2 teaspoon freshly minced fresh ginger to the filling, well combined with the other ingredients.