Piesignment #3- Cream Pie!

Photo from http://www.sanfranciscodays.com/

Sometimes, when you write your own blog and run your own pie spectacular, you get to do things that are completely self-serving.  Now is one of those times.

Photo from http://www.countryliving.com/

On a recent trip to San Francisco, John and I went hog wild in Tartine.  Croque monsieur, almond frangiapane croissants, eclairs, quiche, and lattes in big bowl-sized mugs.  Our plan was to taste a few bites of everything, and take the rest on our road trip.  Unfortunately, our eyes were a bit too big for our stomachs, and we had a pastry casualty along the way.

The pie that got away.  Photo from http://www.theamericanchef.com/

We had grand plans for a mini coconut cream pie, but it melted in the car before we had a chance to taste it. Bummer.  It was beautiful, with a big fluffy pile of whipped cream and toasted coconut shavings on top.  I would've eaten it anyway, but we were on vacation and I didn't want to risk any gastrointestinal distress by eating cream that had gone south.  That was two months ago, and I'm still thinking about the pie that got away. It's time for cream pie redemption.

Photo from http://www.smittenkitchen.com/

Which brings us to the piesignment!  This week, we want you to make a cream pie.  The classic cream pies that come to mind are chocolate, banana, and coconut, but don't be afraid to think outside the box.  Imagine a velvety smooth butterscotch cream pie, a sweet and tangy lemon cream pie, or a rich caramel cream pie.  Or beat a sweltering summer day with ice cream pie!  I guarantee you will be the belle of the ball when you bring one of these creamy dreams to your next get together.

Ok this is getting ridiculous.  I'm hungry.  Let's do this.  Photo from http://www.epicurious.com/

To join in the pie spectacular, just bake a cream pie, blog it, and send your link to butterpluscream@gmail.com.  If you don't blog, send us your photos and we'll give you a shoutout!

We want to see your mad pie skills by Wednesday, July 28, 2010.  Happy baking!

Piesignment #2 - Allison's Three Berry Pie

I have something I need to say about pies. They don't scare me. Never have, never will. I know this may sound a little cocky, or maybe a little silly to those of you who are also unafraid of pies, but I just had to put that out there. See, I hear all the time about the fear that pie crust instills in people, and I just don't get it. I guess I can see how it would be daunting; all that talk about keeping things super cold you think you'd have to live in Alaska to make an ok crust. Or how about the very specific instruction that the butter must be pea-sized before mixing in the liquid? I still don't know if I've ever achieved the perfect pea-sized piece of butter. And then there's the rolling out, and the horror stories of pie crust sticking and tearing, and ok this does sound a little terrifying.
But here's the thing, the most important thing about pie crust: homemade pie crust always taste better than store-bought, always! At least, that's what has been my experience. And so even if you mess something up, or it looks a little funky, you're still way ahead of the game in the taste department. When I began to bake about ten years ago, one of the very first things I ever made was pie, and since then I have continued to bake pies probably more than any other dessert. There usually is a pie of mine at every family gathering, every summer BBQ, and don’t get me started on Thanksgiving when the baking starts two days before the event and usually ends in 5 or 6 different pies.

Why so much pie? Part of it I think is because pie is just so darn simple to make, and anything that’s simple appeals to the lazy side of me. That’s right, pie is simple! Especially fruit pies. Because most pie crust recipes use the same method (cut cold fats into flour until it looks like coarsemeal, drizzle with a cold liquid and mix until it just comes together), the only part you really have to memorize are the ingredients. So once you’ve got the method down, and the ingredient portions memorized, you will never need a recipe again! Trust me, you'll love the feeling of having a pie crust recipe under your belt; it's like having a secret dessert weapon in your arsenal at all times.

Piesignment #2 - Mary's 4th of July Peach Pie

Peach pie on a retro tablecloth.  I'm not sure if it gets much more summery than this.  It kinda makes me feel like the blonde mom on the Wonder Years.

If I'm giving an honest holiday recap, the weather did not show up in So Cal this year.  I think the high temperature of the day may have reached a blistering 65 degrees, and our Malibu-soaked watermelon, while delicious, was not exactly needed to beat the heat.  Instead of packing the car and heading for the beach, we had a good old fashioned backyard party with family.  Jill, Nicole, and I were secretly a little bit happy with this outcome, as it gave us a chance to get down to business and do what we do best:  cook one handed (while the other hand holds a margarita).  Our missions:  Nicole went to town on breakfast, salsas, carnitas, and side dishes.  Jill threw down some killer guac and a big stack of homemade tortillas.  I took it upon myself to make pie happen.  And oh did pie happen.

Piesignment #2

Photo from myrecipes.com

Greetings pie lovers!  Another week, another piesignment.  We're approaching one of my favorite holidays, the 4th of July, and I'm all about tradition on the 4th.  When I was a kid, we spent every summer in my Aunt Janet and Uncle Bub's pool, evading the brutal Missouri heat until the sun went down and we could light our own fireworks in the street.  It was the Midwest, so you know the food was legit.  Deviled eggs, ham sandwiches, all forms of mayo-based salads, and an American flag cake would all make their way into my little kid tummy.

Now that I'm a big kid, there's a new 4th of July tradition.  We spend the weekend with John's brother Dan and his amazing Gwyneth-look-alike wife (and my BFF) Nicole.  The food is always amazing, and there are no shortage of these...

Photo from MidlifeSlices.wordpress.com

I'll share my thoughts on the perfect margarita at another time, but just know that we'll enjoy plenty of them on Sunday in honor of the good ole' US of A.  The day will be a success if I'm still awake to watch fireworks that night.

Photo from ActiveRain.com

So here's the deal with the piesignment:  Since we're all about tradition, why mess with yours?  Bake the pie you were planning on baking for the 4th, and share it with us!  If you don't have a pie tradition, don't worry... it's never too late to start one!  

Send us a link to your 4th of July pie by Wednesday, July 7, 2010 and we'll share them with our readers!  Not a blogger?  Not to worry!  Take a photo of your pie and describe it, and we'll put it on the blog!  Happy baking!

Pie Spectacular #1 - Allison's Sweet Cherry Pie

When it came to the first piesignment for our Summer Pie Spectacular, I didn't think too far out of the box. This is just a traditional lattice-topped, slice of Americana kind of pie. It's the kind of pie that makes me think of Fourth of July BBQ's, state fair baking competitions, and pie-eating contests. To me, cherry pie has such a retro feel to it that it takes me back in time. Back to those days that people like to refer to as "simpler." It makes me think of a pie being cooled on a windowsill (if that sort of thing actually occurs), the scent enticing those who walk by to try and steal a piece. Which is exactly what I attempted to do before realizing my windowsills were not made to accommodate pies, and that I live out in the boonies so if there was somebody happening to be walking by I would be more freaked out than charmed.

I may not have been able to make my homespun vision a reality, but I was able conjure up some of those images while making and enjoying this good old fashioned pie. The pie itself isn't completely traditional though. I did jazz up the filling a bit with some Cointreau and almond extract. I love the combination of almond and cherries, and the citrus kick from the liqueur was the perfect counterbalance. I would love to make a cherry pie with fresh sour cherries which are traditionally used in cherry pie, but unfortunately we just don't see those around these parts. So I went with the sweet cherry varieties that are available instead. I used half Bing and half Rainier which are both very sweet and very delicious in their own different ways.

I'll admit that I had never tried Rainier cherries before last week. I kept passing them over at the farmer's market; maybe it was something about their yellowish hue that didn't appeal to me? I don't know what it was, but I had gone my entire life without consuming one. But when I set out to make pie for this assignment I knew that I couldn't possibly make a sweet cherry pie without trying all the different varieties. Once I popped one in my mouth however, it was love at first taste. These yellow beauties were even sweeter than the Bing cherries that they would be sharing a pie with. I'm just bummed I have been missing out on them this whole time!

Pie Spectacular #1 - Mary's Ranier Cherry Pie

The day is finally here!  It's pie-signment #1, and Allison and I can't wait to see your cherry pies.  As it turns out, my pie duties could not have come at a more opportune time.

Friends, I gotta be honest.  In the last few days, I haven't been feeling like myself.  First I single handedly killed the wireless internet in my house.  Next I bought a new facial cleanser that does not take its cleansing duties very seriously, hello breakout city.  Then, after agreeing to look after my neighbors' cats while they were in Joshua Tree, one of the cats went rogue and disappeared for about 10 hours (I'm so a dog person).  Oh and that job that I love and am lucky to have?  It's kicking my ass, stressing me out, and making me want to hide in a bunker with a 64 ounce milkshake and a stack of Martha Stewart Weddings magazines.

In a brief moment of overwhelmedness, I thought about bailing on this week's piesignment.  I figured you all would be in good hands with Allison, and that you didn't need to hear Eeyore talk to you about pie.  But as it turns out, this baking project was just what I needed.

Apricot Hand Pies

Ah summertime, there’s nothing quite like it. Each day is a little longer, a little warmer, a little more magical than the one before it. It’s the perfect time for casual entertaining, trips to the beach, camping with friends, and these delicious little hand pies. Because just one of the many things that is great about this dessert is how portable they are, and they would be more than welcome at any of those places I just mentioned. Sure they take a little bit more work to put together than your average pie, but when you get to your destination with a container full of little packages of flaky crust and juicy fruit that need little more than a pair of hands to enjoy, you’ll agree that it’s well worth it.
Summer and pie just happen to go hand in hand (pun intended), and we here at Butter + Cream love our pie any way we can get it. Whether it be covered in a lattice top, filled with a creamy filling, topped with whipped cream, or folded up into a handy treat, they’re allll good. In fact, we love pie so much, this summer we are having what we like to call the Butter + Cream Pie Spectacular! We will be putting up piesignments twice a month and hopefully all of you will play along with us. Click here to catch up on all the details. So needless to say, pie is going to be a very good friend around these parts for awhile, and I can't think of a better way to kick of the summer of pie than with these portable tasty treats.
These hand pies are so good it's ridiculous. Imagine a big bite of your favorite fruit, encased in a buttery flaky crust that fits in the palm of your hand. This is definitely a dessert for anyone whose favorite part of pie is the crust (you know who you are), because there tends to be a higher ratio of it to the fruit. The pies are completely customizable and can be filled with whatever type of fruit or filling your heart desires. I’m a sucker for any fruit or vegetable with a short growing season as it seems to make every bite that much more extraordinary. Which meant that when apricots started showing up at the weekly farmer’s market, I knew I had to make something special out of them that would showcase the fleeting fruit, because blink and they’ll be gone.

It's Summer... Let's Bake Some Pie!

Back in April, I baked a fruit pie.  It made me nervous.  Pies can be temperamental.  Pies are intimidating.  Pies are like that cute boy at the 8th grade dance who agrees to dance with you, even though your hair is frizzy and you have serious acne issues and you sweated through your deodorant.  Wait, is that just me?  Awkward...

In trying to alleviate my own pie-anxiety issues, I looked for tips on the internet.  My favorite advice was as follows:  "bake a lot of pie".  So I was thinking...  Do you want to bake pie with us?  A lot of pie?  Like, all summer?

Introducing:  The Butter + Cream Summer Pie Spectacular!  Here's how it works.  Twice a month, we'll give a piesignment.  Choose a recipe, bake the assigned pie, and blog about it.  On a predetermined date, we'll post  our our pie experiences with all of your links.  You do the same.  Sound good?  We think so!

Without further ado, here's your first piesignment:

 Photo from FruitAcresFarms.com

Cherry pie!
Cherry season is short and sweet.  Out here in California, we're right in the thick of it, as our season runs from Mother's Day to Father's Day.  We see mostly Bing and Ranier cherries in our neck o' the woods, but if you're in Michigan, Utah, New York, or Washington, you probably see your fair share of sour cherries.

Cherry pie is classic Americana.  In 1926, President Coolidge and his wife were presented with a 46 pound cherry pie from the Grand Traverse Cherry Growers of Michigan.  The band Warrant released their hit Cherry Pie in 1990, and it reached number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.  In 2006, a cherry pie won Best in Show in the National Pie Championship.  Clearly, it's an important pie.  Let's see what you do with it!  If fresh cherries are hard to come by in your neck of the woods, grab some canned cherries and work your magic.  Go traditional with a lattice top, or get funky with a crumble or cream cheese filling.  Bonus points if you make a Rainer pie, or if you build a callous while pitting cherries.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to bake a cherry pie and blog about the recipe.  You have two weeks to bake, post, and send us your link.  On June 23, 2010, we'll post our cherry pies, and we'll link to yours!  Not a blogger?  Don't worry about it!  Shoot us an email with your recipe and your photos, and we'll do our best to give you a shout out!

Best of luck, now go get your pie on!