Chocolate Birthday Pie

Somehow, adding another birthday candle ceased to be exciting sometime in my 30’s – which was several years ago!

So when I celebrated another birthday last Friday, I choose to concentrate less on the number of candles, and more on my favorite things.

Things like quilting, reading, and of course chocolate (which I had at every meal!)

And since cake doesn’t make my favorite list, and chocolate pie does – I created a yummy chocolate pie to celebrate.

I started with an Oreo cookie crust, added a layer of dark chocolate and topped it off with chocolate whipped cream.

When Pedro saw it he declared it was “chocolate, on top of chocolate, on top of chocolate”!

Perfect!

Chocolate Birthday Pie

14 Oreo cookies, crushed
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cup dark chocolate chips
1/2 cup half & half
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup whipping cream
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
2 tablespoons sugar
splash of vanilla

Combine the crushed Oreo cookies and melted butter and press into a 9 inch pie pan. Refrigerate.

In a double boiler, melt the dark chocolate chips and half & half. When melted and smooth, add the 1/2 teaspoon vanilla. Pour into the crust and refrigerate.

Just before serving, combine the whipping cream, cocoa powder, sugar and a dash of vanilla in a cold mixing bowl.

Beat at high speed with electric mixer until the cream is whipped and thick. Spread it on top of the chocolate layer and take your time licking the bowl!

Rich, decadent, chocolate upon chocolate goodness – now that’s the perfect birthday pie!

Enjoy!

Apple Tart

Nothing says autumn quite like apples.

Unless it’s apples and cinnamon…

…on a buttery shortbread crust.

Yum.

This tart looks pretty fancy – but is really super easy. Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you! Buddy can do the entire thing by himself .

If you don’t have time to artistically arrange the apples slices – just toss them in the glaze, throw them in the crust and call it rustic. 🙂

Apple Tart

Crust:

1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1-1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking powder

5-6 baking apples (Granny Smith or Jonathon’s are my favorites)

Glaze:

1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Crust: Cream the butter and sugar. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and spices. Mix briefly. The mixture should be crumbly but moist. Press into a tart pie or a 10 inch pie pan.

Peel and slice 5-6 apples. Arrange on the crust.

Glaze: Place all of the ingredients for the glaze in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook and stir until thick. Pour over apples.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned and the apples are tender.

Perfect either hot or cold – and definitely with fresh whipped cream or ice cream!

Enjoy!

Caramel Nut Pear Pie

It’s harvest time in the orchards and I’m still amazed that we have pears growing on our pear trees.

Not that I expected them to grow apples or figs – but I’m amazed that after 10 years of barrenness, they are finally producing something!

For years Jan would go out in the fall and threaten to cut them down – but I would talk him out of it.

Now – miraculously – we have pears in abundance!

We’ve had fresh pears, pear crisp, baked pears, and yes – this luscious pear pie!

Caramel Nut Pear Pie
Recipe from Taste of Home

6 cups sliced peeled ripe pears (about 6 medium)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar, divided
2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
3/4 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
3/4 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon flour
1/4 cup cold butter
18 caramels
5 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup pecans

In a large bowl combine pears and lemon juice. In other bowl combine 1/2 cup sugar, tapioca, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. Add to pears; stir gently. Let stand for 15 minutes. Pour into pastry shell.

In another bowl combine the oatmeal, flour, and sugar. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle over the pears.

Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile in a saucepan over low heat, melt the caramels with the milk. Stir until smooth and add pecans.

Drizzle over the pie and bake another 8-10 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the pears are soft.

Serve with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream or a big dollop of whipped cream.

The recipe said to let the pie cool – but we couldn’t wait! We ate it hot out of the oven with the ice cream just melting down over the hot caramel and the sweet pears. (Are you drooling yet? I am! 🙂 )

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Mouthwatering Mondays at A Southern Fairy Tale, Tempt my Tummy Tuesday at Blessed With Grace, Tuesdays at the Table at All the Small Stuff, Tasty Tuesday at Balancing beauty and Bedlam and The Tuesday Garden Party over at An Oregon Cottage.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

Thanks again to the goodness of friends (love you Stan and Dorothy!) we picked another huge strawberry patch this week.

This time, though, it was the end of the season and the berries were much smaller and not as numerous.

They were, however, really tasty! 🙂

After picking, we followed tradition by taking some of the biggest and nicest berries, washing them and then dipping them first in sour cream then brown sugar.

Delicious.

Then the kids started hulling (it only took part if one movie this time!) while I made the crust for our fresh strawberry pie.

I hesitated to share this recipe since I thought everybody in the world had a fresh strawberry pie recipe. But I was wrong.

I discovered friends a few weeks ago who had never heard of it. Poor things.

So in their honor- here is one of our favorite summertime treats.

Fresh Strawberry Pie

1 – 9 inch baked pie crust
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
3 Tablespoons corn starch
2 Tablespoons white corn syrup
strawberry jello
1 quart fresh strawberries

Combine water, sugar, corn starch, and corn syrup in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thickened. Remove from heat and add 1/4 cup of strawberry jello.

Cool, then add the strawberries and mix gently.

Pour into the baked and cooked pie shell. Refrigerate.

Serve with whipped cream.

You can get fancy with the strawberries and set them up nicely – but with five kids who don’t really care what it looks like as long as there’s a lot of it – I normally don’t take the time.

This is also delicious with fresh raspberries or fresh peaches. Just substitute the appropriate flavor of jello.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up at Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Hot Fudge Sundae Pie

My quest to find the perfect chocolate pie recipe continues…

And with my sister and niece coming – I considered it the perfect opportunity to try yet another chocolate pie recipe.

This time I choose a hot fudge sundae pie – a dense rich chocolate pie topped with ice cream and other toppings.

Yummo.

The crowd loved it – declaring it “most definitely a keeper”.

Hot Fudge Sundae Pie

2/3 cup butter
1/3 cup Hershey’s coca
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 Tablespoon flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 unbaked 9 inch pie crust
ice cream – any flavor
ice cream toppings – bananas, maraschino cherries, peanuts, whipped cream, etc…

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add cocoa, stir till smooth. Remove from heat.

Stir together the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add the egg mixture to the cocoa mixture and stir with a whisk until smooth and slightly thickened.

Add brown sugar, granulated sugar, flour, and salt; stir with a whisk until smooth.

Pour mixture into the unbaked crust.

Bake 30-35 minutes until the edge is set (the center will be soft). Cool about 2 hours.

To serve, cut a slice and top it with ice cream and other toppings.

Enjoy!

I’ve linked this post up with Foodie Friday at Design’s by Gollum and at Chocolate Friday over at Stop n Smell the Chocolates.

Chocolate Marshmallow Pie

Okay, let me start by saying that this pie tastes way better than the picture indicates! 🙂 Trust me !

It’s been a while since I tested a chocolate pie recipe, and decided that my parents’ visit was the perfect excuse to make one.

I wanted something light, and when we found this yummy recipe with marshmallows -we knew we had to try it!

We had a few issues with the pie – beginning with the crust. The recipe called for an Oreo cookie crust – but since we were out of Oreo’s, I suggested a graham cracker crust. Then Dagmar wondered what would happen if we added cocoa powder to the graham crackers so it would still be chocolate.

That part worked – it actually tasted wonderful! But our mistake was baking it too long in the microwave. That crust was hard as a rock.

This became rather embarrassing when we tried to serve it! I was hacking away it at the table and crust pieces were flying everywhere! Good thing it was just family – and they have a good sense of humor! Next time we’ll just pop it in the freezer.

We also didn’t give it enough time to freeze before we served it – which is why – in the picture- the top layer is kind of oozing over the middle layer.

But when I finally got the pie chiseled out of the pan and served – we loved the flavor! It was light and creamy.

We’ll definitely make this one again! Only we’ll follow the directions more carefully!

Chocolate Marshmallow Pie

Filling:

1 cup chocolate chips, divided (we used semi- sweet, but dark would be wonderful, too)
2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup milk (divided)
1 1/2 cup miniature marshmallows
1- 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip (thawed, divided)

Crust:

Chocolate Graham Cracker Crust:

1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 18 crackers)
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons baking cocoa
1/2 cup melted butter or margarine

or Oreo Crust

1- 1/2 cups finely crushed Oreo cookie crumbs (approximately 20 Oreos)
3 Tablespoons melted butter or margarine

For either of the crusts:

Combine all the ingredients and press into a 9 inch pie pan. Freeze for a few minutes to set.

For the filling:

Microwave 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and 2 tablespoons of milk for 30 seconds at medium. Stir. Repeat at 15 second intervals, stirring at each one, until the chips are melted and smooth. Spread on the bottom of the crust and refrigerate.

Place marshmallows, remaining 2/3 cup of chocolate chips, and remaining 1/4 cup of milk into a saucepan. Cook over medium heat stirring constantly , until marshmallows are melted and the mixture is well-blended.

Place into a large bowl and cool completely.

Stir 2 cups of whipped topping into the cooled chocolate marshmallow mixture. Spread 2 cups of this mixture into the crust.

Blend the remaining whipped topping into the remaining chocolate mixture. Spread this mixture over the surface of the pie.

Cover and freeze several hours or overnight.

Serve with extra whipped topping if you wish and garnish with chocolate swirls.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chess Pie

Knowing my continuing effort to find the recipe for that perfect chocolate pie I enjoyed this summer at the farmer’s market – my sister sent me this recipe.

At first glance, I was pretty sure that it would not be the recipe I was drooling for – but since it was chocolate, we made it anyway.

Whoa baby! Was I wrong! This was a fabulous recipe! It’s thick chocolate filling was rich and creamy!

Is this the allusive chocolate pie recipe I’m seeking? It just might be. But why end the search so soon – there are still so many recipes to try!

Chocolate Chess Pie

Beat 2 eggs slightly

Mix in:

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. cocoa
1/2 c. melted oleo
1 tsp. vanilla

Pour in unbaked 9 inch crust. Bake 30 minutes or more at 325 degrees.

Serve with whipped cream.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Cream Pie

I’m serious about this chocolate pie thing.

I’m on my second recipe now – determined to find the perfect chocolate pie.

This recipe actually turned out! It was creamy – just as the name indicated – and had a nice chocolate taste.

It filled the pie shell to the very top, giving very generous pieces. (Which of course, my children loved!)

It also used up several of the egg yolks left over from Dagmar’s Farmer’s Market baking.

The kids voted this one a rousing success and finished it off in record time!

Chocolate Cream Pie

1 1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons cocoa
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup water
1 can (12 ounces) evaporated milk
5 egg yolks (beaten till lemon colored)
1/2 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, water and evaporated milk until smooth in a medium saucepan. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Remove from heat. Take 1 cup of the hot mixture and add it to the beaten egg yolks. Mix thoroughly to temper the eggs.

Return the egg mixture to the pan and bring to a gentle boil, stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add 1/2 cup butter and vanilla.

Cool slightly and pour warm into a 9″ baked pastry or graham cracker shell.

Refrigerate until set.

Serve cold with whipped cream. We loved it best with Cool Whip French Vanilla whipped topping .

Although this pie was very good – I can’t stop after only 2 recipes.

And so the search continues…