Salted Caramel Pie… did someone say salt???

I tried this recipe this week not only because salted caramel is one of my favorite candies… and salt is my favorite condiment, but the urge to try the recipe was to cross compare with a friend making the same pie for her Thanksgiving Day feast.

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/salted-caramel-pie

The trip up seemed to be the type of pan used for the water bath.  I ended up going with 2 pyrex dishes, since I was without a roasting pan, but the lesson seemed to be, don’t use metal for the caramel filling, ever.  Oh, and the obvious, be careful mixing the goop… the steam from the water in the pan is an ER trip in the making. 

If you are having trouble getting your hands on fleur de sel, kosher salt is a perfectly acceptable sub, especially for the filling since it just dissolves.  For the top you may want to upgrade to something a bit more aesthetically pleasing.

I pulled it out of the oven after a hour and 45 minutes, but might have been able to do so even 15 minutes sooner.  Regardless, I spread the goop, though lumpy and looking completely wrong, over the gingersnap crumb crust I had prepared and let it chill overnight.

The next day, the lumps in the filling were gone, and I opted to make life a little easy and took the incomplete project to work where I covered it in whipped cream and pretty pink sea salt, and watched the pie disappear into the mouths of starving baristas!

So with Christmas coming up, consider trying this recipe to share.  It’s easier than most pies and despite my aversion to condensed sweetened milk, it’s really delicious and not as sinful as it tastes.

Along with the spirit of giving, if I am on your gift list this year, consider buying me a salt lick.  Or perhaps just some fancy sea salt so I stop pinching it from work.  Just kidding, I only want the salt lick.

Cherry, Blueberry ‘n’ Apple Pie

When you come to my house, you have to deal with my yappy dogs.  On the up side, sometimes I make pie.

a crustless sweet potato tartlet with streusel

a crustless sweet potato tartlet with streusel

Chocolate Cream Pie

Just an old fashioned custard pie, dusted with nutmeg.  Poor thing didn’t stand a chance.  Nom nom nom.

Just an old fashioned custard pie, dusted with nutmeg.  Poor thing didn’t stand a chance.  Nom nom nom.

It’s a beautiful day for pie.  Let’s bake two.

 In honor of this mischievous holiday I present to you Grilled Cheese!  This was another kitchen project from work.  Slices of pound cake pan fried in unsalted butter on one side, and assembled into mini sandwiches filled with frosting.  The colors weren’t brought out well in the photos but I was going for a velveta-esque orange. Adding an extract other than vanilla to the filling adds to that element of surprise as well.  I won’t spoil the fun and tell you what I used.  
 
  This idea was first brought to my attention by my good friend whom I like to call Canada (a story for another day), who in keeping with the theme of the drag party she was throwing, put all the food in drag as well.  It sent 10’s of drag kings and queens spinning, their taste buds and brains in a fit of confusion.  Savory was sweet, sweet was savory.  Her spread was truly inspirational.

  Have a fun April Fools!

SMORES BROWNIES… a little treat I made at the cafe where I work.  Easy to make, a mess to cut.

SMORES BROWNIES… a little treat I made at the cafe where I work.  Easy to make, a mess to cut.

I seem to have found myself distracted from posting this entire winter.  So I present to you a season in review.  Once Thanksgiving passed, a holiday demanding pie, I went in a different direction with my desserts, just to shake things up a bit. 

This is what happens when my sweet potato pie and mom’s secret cheesecake recipe come head to head in the kitchen.  Reserving a little less than 2 cups of filling for a large cheesecake, I drizzled it on the tops of my pies before popping them in the oven.  The filling that was left was still enough for an 8x8 cheesecake which, let’s be honest, is more than enough dessert when you already have 2 pies cooling.