Posted on September 7, 2012September 7, 2012 in Baking, In The Kitchen, Recipe

Pie Crazy–Red Raspberry Pie Filling

I use to think that cupcakes were the rave. They are cute and tasty, and you can make just about any flavor imaginable, but truthfully, my new rave is homemade pie. Pies offer a sense of nostalgia for me. My grandmother and mother made them often, and made them well.

I have actually discovered the more pies you make, the more efficient you become at making them. What once seemed like a dreaded chore, now seems like a – piece of pie.

And how about the cost of buying a pie these days. Whoa… Hold on to your wallets folks! They certainly aren’t cheap. So, why not make your own?

I searched the archives here at The Joy of Caking and found I’ve made and shared quite a few pies with you. I guess maybe my new rave isn’t so new after all. Here is the list I came up with.

Farm Country Peach

Vanilla Cream Pie.

Custard Pie

Red Raspberry Custard Pie with Vanilla Crumb Crust

Old-Fashioned Blueberry Custard Pie

Icebox Banana Chocolate Pie

I see I’ve still have a lot of pies flavors yet to go, and that’s just fine with me.

This red raspberry pie filling is about as raspberry as you’re going to get. I used berries that I had frozen from our own raspberry bushes. I’d say the filling leans toward the tart side. If you prefer a more sweet filling bump up the sugar by 1/4 cup.

Raspberry Pie Filling

2 tbsp. corn starch

2 tbsp. all-purpose flour

a dash of salt

1 c. granulated sugar

2 pints of fresh, or frozen red raspberries

3 tbsp. margarine

prepared double pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, mix corn starch, flour, salt, and sugar. Blend all ingredients until thoroughly mixed. Pour sugar mixture over berries and fold lightly until berries are completely covered. Pour into prepared bottom pie crust, dot with margarine, and cover with top crust.

Follow the instructions for baking the pie according to your pie crust recipe.

What do you think? Is pie the new rave, or is it just me?

Posted on November 9, 2010November 11, 2010 in Baking

Apple Pie, an American Icon

Do you remember the 1974-1976 commercial that referenced the four great American icons “baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet?”

When I was making my apple pie last night I could faintly remember the commercial. It was kinda nagging at me. Was it hotdogs, apple pie and Chevrolet? Or was it baseball, apple pie and Chevrolet? Neither felt just right. What was it I was missing? Turns out I was close, but it was actually both, baseball and hotdogs. I guess I shouldn’t feel too bad because at the time this commercial came out I would have been – shhhh – don’t be alarmed – sit down – okay – are you ready for this? Nine years old. Oh my gosh (panic in my voice) that was 36 years ago. Where in the world did all those years go?

I guess there’s no sense dwelling on days gone by. I might as well get to a more positive note. The apple pie!

This it my favorite apple pie and there is no quest for another apple pie recipe. As much as I’d love to share it with all of you it’s really a smidgen of this, and a dash of that kinda of recipe. There are a couple of things I can share with you though. I make my crust with vegetable shortening, not oil, and not butter. I usually like to mix a couple different kinds tart apples into the pie (but if you do this make sure the textures are close in nature – meaning you want to use all soft, or all hard apples) If you mix soft and hard some apples together the filling will not cook evenly. I like to place a pie baking ring around the edge of my crust to prevent it from browning too fast. This can be accomplished with aluminum foil too. Lastly, I’ve made a lot of pies over the years and they never look perfect, but when they taste good they don’t have to look perfect because everyone gobbles them up to fast to notice.

Do you have a forever apple pie recipe? And, how old were you in 1974 🙂

Posted on November 8, 2010November 8, 2010 in Outside of baking and cooking

One Lovely Blog Award, passing it on…

Imagine my surprise today when I was reading one of my favorite blogs Gingerbreadbagels and realized that Lindsey, who had just been awarded the One Lovely Blog Award (four times – mind you), was passing the award onto me and fourteen other lucky bloggers. Yea!! This is my first award and I’m so excited!

Before I go any further, I want to thank Lindsey – thank you, thank you, thank you! I also want to tell you why her blog is one of my favorites. First, she is one of the kindest, most sincere, and personable bloggers I’ve met in the blogging world. She makes all of her readers feel welcome at her blog, and her baking creations are seriously scrumptious looking. She is a true baker – through and through. I wish we lived closer to each other because I’d love to sample some of those sweet confections she whips up in that kitchen of hers every week 🙂

As part of receiving this award I have to pass it onto fifteen bloggers who I admire. Those bloggers will then get the chance to pay it forward to fifteen bloggers who they admire. Here are the blogs I have selected to receive the One Lovely Blog Award. There are so many more I’d like to add to this list (but someone decided fifteen was the magic number). I truly appreciate each and every blogger I’ve chosen for their creativity and individuality!

A Spicy Perspective

A View from the Porch

Mama Cupcake And The Cupcake Bandit Duo

Cabin Fever in Vermont

Anecdotes and Apple Cores

The Lonely Radish

Try Anything Once

Cheapethniceatz