Dayrecipe Food Community

All the wonderful flavors and textures of summer berry pie à la mode in an ice cream sundae. For a casual party, offer the individual components buffet style and let guests make their own.

Makes 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 41/2-pint baskets fresh blackberries (about 5 1/2 cups)
• 1cup orange juice
• 3/4cup sugar
• 2teaspoons grated orange peel
• 1/4teaspoon ground cinnamon17.25-ounce package shortbread cookies (such as pepperidge farm chessmen), coarsely crumbled (about 2 cups)
• 1 1/2quarts vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS Combine 4 cups blackberries, orange juice, sugar, orange peel, and cinnamon in medium saucepan. Bring to boil. Reduce heat to low; simmer until berries are soft and begin to release juices, about 8 minutes. Transfer 2 cups berry mixture to processor; puree until almost smooth. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir in remaining blackberries. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm berry mixture over medium heat until just warm before continuing.)

Divide cookie crumbs among 8 bowls or wineglasses. Add 1 scoop ice cream to each. Spoon warm blackberry sauce over each and serve.

I’ve always found lemon curd too sweet and heavy on its own. Folded into
whipped cream, however, it makes a wonderful pie filling.

Makes one 9-inch pie, or 6 to 8 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 large eggs
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
• 3/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 cup heavy cream, chilled
• 1 prepared crumb crust

DIRECTIONS 1. Combine the eggs, sugar, and lemon zest in a heavy medium-size saucepan
and whisk the mixture until it is smooth. Add the lemon juice and butter and
cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it is
thickened, 7 to 9 minutes. Do not allow the mixture to come to a boil.

2. Pour the lemon curd through a fine mesh strainer into a glass bowl. Cover
the surface with plastic wrap. Refrigerate the lemon curd until it is cold
and thick, at least 3 hours and up to 3 days.

3. In a medium-size mixing bowl using an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream
until soft peaks form. Gently fold the whipped cream into the lemon curd and
scrape the filling into the prepared pie shell. Cover the pie with plastic
wrap and refrigerate it until the filling is completely set, at least 6 hours
and up to 1 day.

Choosing a crust
My favorite crust for this pie is vanilla wafer crust.

Dressing it up
Spoon some raspberry coulis onto dessert plates, place pieces of pie on top,
and scatter kiwi slices on top of and around the slices of pie.

As the pie bakes, the filling separates into a soft pudding-like bottom and a cakey top.

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• crust
• 1 1/3cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2teaspoons sugar
• 1/2teaspoon salt
• 1/3cup solid vegetable shortening, frozen, diced
• 1/4cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 4tablespoons (about) ice water1egg white, beaten to blendfilling
• 1cup all purpose flour
• 1/2cup (packed) golden brown sugar
• 1/2cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1cup hot water
• 1/2teaspoon instant espresso powder
• 1teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4cup light corn syrup
• 1/4cup mild-flavored (light) molasses
• 1teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4teaspoon salt
• 1/8teaspoon ground cinnamonpowdered sugar
• vanilla ice cream

DIRECTIONS For crust:
Blend flour, sugar, and salt in processor 5 seconds. Add shortening and butter. Using on/off turns, blend until coarse meal forms. Add 3 tablespoons ice water; blend briefly. Add more ice water, 1 teaspoon at a time, and blend, using on/off turns, until moist clumps form. Gather dough together; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Transfer dough to 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim overhang to 3/4 inch. Fold overhang under and crimp edge decoratively. Pierce crust all over with fork. Freeze 10 minutes. Line crust with foil; fill with dried beans or pie weights. Bake crust until sides are set, about 25 minutes. Remove foil and beans. Bake crust until beginning to color, pressing with back of fork if crust bubbles, about 10 minutes longer. Remove from oven; brush crust with some of egg white to seal. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F.

Meanwhile, prepare filling:
Mix flour and brown sugar in medium bowl. Add butter; cut in with back of fork until blended and even-size crumbs form. Combine 1 cup hot water and espresso powder in another medium bowl. Add baking soda. Whisk in corn syrup, molasses, vanilla, salt, and cinnamon.

Sprinkle crumb mixture over hot crust. Pour in molasses mixture. Bake pie until filling is set in center, about 35 minutes. Transfer pie to rack; cool completely.

Sift powdered sugar over pie. Cut into wedges and serve with ice cream.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour or cake flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, butter, margarine, or a combination
• 3 to 8 tablespoons ice water

DIRECTIONS Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl. Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Divide into three portions. Add some of the ice water to one portion of the mixture, a little at a time, working just until the dough holds together. Set aside. Repeat with each of the remaining two portions. Gather all the dough together into a smooth ball and flatten into a disk. Add more ice water if still dry. Wrap well with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes or up to 3 days.

Flour a board, wax paper, or pie cloth and use a floured or stockinged rolling pin to roll out the dough. Place the dough disk in the center of the floured surfaced. Starting in the center of the dough, roll to, but not over, the top edge of the dough. Go back to the center, and roll down to, but not over, the bottom edge. Pick up the dough and turn it a quarter circle. This will keep it round and keep it from sticking.

Continue rolling, repeating the quarter turns until you have a disk 1/8 inch thick and 1 1/2 inches larger than your pan. Fold in quarters.

Place the pastry in a 9-inch pie pan with the tip of the triangle in the center and unfold. Trim the pastry 1 inch larger than the pie pan and fold the overhanging pastry under itself. To decorate, press the tines or handle end of a fork around the edge. To make a fluted pattern, use both of your thumbs to pinch the dough all around the rim so that the edge of the dough stands up. Place in the freezer or chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or up to 3 days, wrapped before baking.

To prebake, preheat the oven to 425°F. Prick the pastry all over with a fork. Crumple a piece of wax paper, then open it out to the edges of the pan. Weight the paper with raw rice or dried peas. Bake for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the paper and rice or peas and paper. (The rice or peas may be used again the next time you prebake a pie crust.) Now the prebaked shell can be filled with a filling and baked according to the filling directions. If the filling requires no cooking, bake the pie shell 10 minutes before filling.

Two-Crust Pie Directions
If making a two-crust pie, double the ingredients and make the bottom crust larger than the top crust. Dampen the rim of the bottom crust before putting on the top one, then seal the two together. Be very careful not to stretch either dough, so they stay together when baked.

TipIf you want a browner crust, use butter or margarine. If you want a less brown crust, use vegetable shortening.

The original recipe called for a small pie plate, but we found the pie worked beautifully in a tart pan.

Active time: 1 hr Start to finish: 5 hr (includes chilling dough)

Makes 8 to 10 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• flaky pastry dough
• 2large eggs
• 1cup sugar
• 1tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1cup cold water
• 2tablespoons cider vinegar
• cinnamon for dustingaccompaniment:lightly sweetened whipped cream
• special equipment:a 9- to 9 1/2-inch round fluted tart pan (1 inch deep) with removable bottom; pie weights or raw rice

DIRECTIONS Make pie shell:
Roll out half of pastry dough (reserve remainder for another use) on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin into a 12-inch round. Fit dough into tart pan and trim excess, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold overhang inward and press against side of panto form a rim that extends 1/4 inch above pan. Prick bottom of shell all over with a fork and chill 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights. Bake in middle of oven until edge is pale golden and sides are set, about 20 minutes. Remove weights and foil and bake shell until bottom is golden, 8 to 10 minutes more.

Make filling while shell bakes:
Whisk together eggs and 1/4 cup sugar in a bowl until blended well. Whisk together flour and remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a 1-quart heavy saucepan, then whisk in water and vinegar. Bring to a boil, whisking until sugar is dissolved. Add to egg mixture in a slow stream, whisking constantly.

Pour filling into saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until filling coats back of spoon and registers 175°F on an instant-read thermometer, 12 to 15 minutes. (Do not boil.) Immediately pour filling into a 2-cup glass measure. If pie shell is not ready, cover surface of filling with a round of wax paper.

Reduce oven temperature to 350°F, then pour hot filling into baked pie shell in middle of oven and cover rim of crust with a pie shield or foil (to prevent overbrowning). Bake pie until filling is set, 15 to 20 minutes, then cool completely in pan on a rack. Dust evenly with cinnamon.