Raspberry Tarts & Pie~ Recipes!

What says summer better than berries?  My nieces came over to visit with us and one of them says she loves "Pop Tarts".  I decided to make a raspberry pie, and I had a little leftover crust.  So, with the FarmChicks  as my inspiration I whipped up these little beauties!  

First, I made some pie crust (click here for recipe), and made the pie (below).  Then I mixed some frozen raspberries 1 or 2 cups, with sugar 1/2 cup, and 2 tablespoons flour.  I made the "Tart" filling a little thicker than the pie filling.  I rolled the crust out, and cut it into round circles.  I placed about a teaspoon to a tablespoon of fruit in each circle, depending on the size of your circle, brushed the edges with milk and folded the circle over.  I pressed a fork around the edges to seal.  They cooked about 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.

My niece wanted them to have a little icing drizzle, I thought that was a fine idea.  I mixed a little fresh squeezed lemon juice with some organic powered sugar.  Oh yes, it was yummy and much better than a "pop tart"!  A perfect summer breakfast!  :) 

I think if I tried it again I would add a tablespoon of sugar to the pie crust recipe.  It was not quite as sweet as my raspberry pie, because it was more crust than filling.  Alternatively, you could put a bit more the sugary icing over the top of the "Tarts".

Raspberry Pie

Here is the raspberry pie I made.  Same crust, the filling was 4 cups of frozen raspberries, 1 1/4 cup organic sugar, squeezed juice of 1 fresh lemon over berries, and 2 heaping tablespoons flour.  Bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

Cool for at least 15 min.  Take a slice, and add one scoop of vanilla ice-cream.

You are in heaven!

Happy Baking!

Cranberry Lemon Galette with the BEST Pie Crust RECIPE!!

Today's Tuesday with Dorrie from Dorrie Greenspan's Baking From My House To Yours, is a simple rustic type of pie~a galette.  This is my first galette, and it was so simple and easy to make.   This Galette is a scrumptious combination of sweet and tart, so, so good!!  Dorie you have done it again!! Delicious!

I didn't have a lime, it was supposed to be a Cranberry Lime Galette but I only had a lemon, so that is what I used.  I also substituted homemade strawberry jam for the raspberry jam.  I believe in working with what I have on hand!  :)  Simple substitutions like this do not really alter the recipe much in my opinion.  Sure the taste will be slightly different but the principle is the same.

I baked my Galette on my stone cookie sheet.  The stone prevents the crusts from burning, ie. the cookies, galette, or whatever I'm baking.

I love Dorie's pie crust, but I have a recipe I love even more.  My cousin from WI gave me this little cookbook from the Sheboygan Christian School (they are famous for their pies!) and I make the crust from this home grown book~100 Years Of Butter & Love.

Here is my pie crust recipe, enjoy it with your favorite pie.  I'm sure you'll be baking one up here pretty soon as we are just one week away from Thanksgiving!

Pie Crust 
Makes enough for two pie crusts.
4 C. flour
1 T sugar (optional)
2 tsp salt
1 3/4 C. butter
1/2 C. water
1 T vinegar
1 lg. egg
Mix together flour, sugar and salt.  Add butter and mash with a pastry blender until crumbly.  In a small bowl beat water, vinegar and egg.  Combine the two mixtures, stirring with fork.  Divide for rolling.  Works best if chilled about 30 minutes.  Roll out on floured surface or between parchment paper to prevent sticking.

The crust does not taste at all like vinegar, once cooked.  It has a wonderful consistency and is easy to work with.  Rose Levey Beranbaum author of The Pie and Pastry Bible says "The vinegar helps relax the dough with out loosing the flakiness, making it easier to roll, shrink less and be more tender."  She is also the author of The Cake Bible.

If you would like the recipe for the Galette look here at Celestial Confections blog, she picked the delicious recipe this week!

Carmel Pumpkin Pie- with nuts or without?

I started with a whole pumpkin.  It's the season isn't it?  It's so easy to do.  Next, I grabbed the leftover pie dough from the fridge (we made quiche this week).   I rolled this out and put it in my deep pie dish.  Little did I know this was too much room. The crust fell over just a little bit during baking because it was too high.  Still tasted good though.  I ended up making the filling in my Kitchen Aid mixer because that seemed the easiest way to break up the pumpkin.

The filling called for homemade caramel.  This was my first time making caramel and I loved it!  I have made candied pecans so it was similar to that.  I was so excited I hollered from the kitchen when I finished, and my husband didn't get it.

So Tasty!!  I made homemade whipped cream ahead of time and it was a little cold when I took it out of the refrigerator.  That is why it looks a little "lumpy" in the picture.

I love nuts, my kids don't.  So, I ended up sprinkling buttered, toasted pecan pieces on one half of the pie and leaving the other plain.  Everyone's happy.  If you want to see this recipe check out Mortensen Family Memoirs, or you can find it in Dorrie Greenspan's book Baking From My House To Yours, pg. 322-323.