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Grandma Carrie’s Chocolate Pie

I watched Grandma Carrie make chocolate pie many times but never got her recipe. A recipe from our church cookbook is just like I remember– thickened with flour instead of cornstarch. Tweaking the recipe to include cooking in the microwave does not shorten the time to make it, it just prevents scorching the cream filling.

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Chocolate Cream Pie

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword chocolate, cream pie, meringue
Servings 2 pies

Equipment

  • 2 pie pans
  • 1 wire whisk

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 4 tablespoon cocoa
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 cups whole milk
  • 5 each eggs
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla
  • 2 each baked pie crusts
  • 1 recipe Swiss Meringue
  • 1 teaspoon chocolate sprinkles

Instructions

  • Combine sugar, flour, cocoa and salt in microwave safe bowl. Stir to break up cocoa lumps.
  • Warm milk in microwave for 2 minutes. Add to mixture and stir with a wire whisk to blend.
  • Microwave on high at 2 minute intervals until thickened, stirring well in between.
  • Separate egg yolks from the whites. Slightly beat the yolks then blend in a few spoonfuls of the chocolate mixture to temper the yolks. Add the yolk mixture to the chocolate cream mixture and blend well. Microwave for an additional two minutes then add remaining vanilla and butter stirring until blended.
  • Pour into baked pie shells and top with meringue made from the egg whites. Bake in a 400 degree F. oven until slightly brown. Top with a few chocolate sprinkles to identify it as a chocolate pie.
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Pie Crust

A flaky crust made with butter
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword buttermilk, pie crust
Servings 16
Author stevens1951

Equipment

  • 2 pie plates or pans
  • 1 Rolling Pin

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks butter unsalted
  • 2 2/3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

  • Place flour and salt in a bowl.
  • Grate cold butter, a little at a time, over flour. Toss the butter into the flour every few minutes to prevent the butter from sticking together.
  • Sprinkle cold water over the flour mixture and stir with a fork until the dough starts forming a ball.
  • Divide the dough in half and place on floured pastry board or counter. Roll dough into a circle to fit pie plate. Sprinkle a little more flour over pastry if it sticks to the rolling pin.
  • Fold dough over and lift into pan. Press dough to fit pan. Fold top edge under and flute. Prick bottom and sides of shell with a fork to prevent shrinkage. Repeat with remaining dough.
  • For a baked pie shell, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
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Swiss Meringue

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword egg whites, pie
Servings 16
Author stevens1951

Equipment

  • 1 stainless steel mixing bowl
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 wire whisk

Ingredients

  • 6 each egg whites no yolk or fat can be in whites
  • 12 tablespoons sugar
  • dash cream of tartar

Instructions

  • Add 1 inch of water to saucepan and bring to a simmer.
  • Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a stainless steel mixing bowl and place over simmering water.
  • Stir constantly with a wire whisk or the beaters of the electric mixer until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is slightly warm. Test by rubbing mixture between two fingers.
  • Remove from saucepan and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
  • Spread meringue on top of pie filling. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. until meringue is browned.

Notes

“Weeping” is the watery liquid that often collects under the meringue and causes the pie to be soggy.  This is caused by the sugar not dissolving completely.  High humidity also does not help.  The Swiss method of dissolving the sugar in warm egg whites helps to prevent weeping. 

Aunt Mae’s Coconut Pie

Aunt Mae brought two of these pies to any social gathering and we knew we had better get a piece early ’cause if we waited, it was gone.

I am so thankful to my brother and his wife, who called and got her recipe. Of course it was a dab of this and a dollop of that, so they had to test it several times to get a recipe that we all could follow.

I tweaked the recipes to make them user friendly and also used the microwave to make the filling; a process that keeps the filling from scorching. Enjoy!

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Aunt Mae’s Coconut Pie

This recipe makes two pies. Never worry, you will need two!
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword coconut, cream pie, meringue, pie
Servings 16
Author stevens1951

Equipment

  • 2 pie pans
  • 1 wire whisk

Ingredients

  • 2 cups sugar
  • 2/3 cup flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup evaporated milk
  • 3 1/2 cups whole milk
  • 6 each eggs
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1 stick butter
  • 1 14 oz bag coconut
  • 2 each pie crusts baked
  • 2 recipes Swiss Meringue

Instructions

  • Combine sugar, flour and salt in microwave safe bowl. Stir to break up lumps.
  • Combine both milks in a microwave safe measuring cup and warm in microwave for 2 minutes.
  • Add milk to flour mixture and stir with a wire whisk to blend.
  • Microwave on high at 2 minute intervals until thickened, stirring well in between.
  • Separate egg yolks from the whites being careful not to break the yolks. Place the whites in a stainless steel mixing bowl to make the meringue later.
  • Slightly beat the yolks, then blend in a few spoonfuls of the hot pudding mixture to temper the yolks. Add the yolk mixture to the hot cream mixture and blend well. Microwave for an additional 2 minutes then add vanilla and butter blending until butter melts.
  • Add approximately two thirds of the coconut stirring until blended. Pour into baked pie shells and top with meringue made from the egg whites then top with the remaining coconut. Bake in a 400 degree oven until slightly brown. Cool and serve at room temperature.
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Pie Crust

A flaky crust made with butter
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword buttermilk, pie crust
Servings 16
Author stevens1951

Equipment

  • 2 pie plates or pans
  • 1 Rolling Pin

Ingredients

  • 2 sticks butter unsalted
  • 2 2/3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 8 tablespoons cold water

Instructions

  • Place flour and salt in a bowl.
  • Grate cold butter, a little at a time, over flour. Toss the butter into the flour every few minutes to prevent the butter from sticking together.
  • Sprinkle cold water over the flour mixture and stir with a fork until the dough starts forming a ball.
  • Divide the dough in half and place on floured pastry board or counter. Roll dough into a circle to fit pie plate. Sprinkle a little more flour over pastry if it sticks to the rolling pin.
  • Fold dough over and lift into pan. Press dough to fit pan. Fold top edge under and flute. Prick bottom and sides of shell with a fork to prevent shrinkage. Repeat with remaining dough.
  • For a baked pie shell, heat oven to 425 degrees F. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until lightly browned.
Print

Swiss Meringue

Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Keyword egg whites, pie
Servings 16
Author stevens1951

Equipment

  • 1 stainless steel mixing bowl
  • 1 saucepan
  • 1 wire whisk

Ingredients

  • 6 each egg whites no yolk or fat can be in whites
  • 12 tablespoons sugar
  • dash cream of tartar

Instructions

  • Add 1 inch of water to saucepan and bring to a simmer.
  • Combine egg whites, sugar and cream of tartar in a stainless steel mixing bowl and place over simmering water.
  • Stir constantly with a wire whisk or the beaters of the electric mixer until sugar is completely dissolved and the mixture is slightly warm. Test by rubbing mixture between two fingers.
  • Remove from saucepan and beat with an electric mixer until soft peaks form.
  • Spread meringue on top of pie filling. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes at 400 degrees F. until meringue is browned.

Notes

“Weeping” is the watery liquid that often collects under the meringue and causes the pie to be soggy.  This is caused by the sugar not dissolving completely.  High humidity also does not help.  The Swiss method of dissolving the sugar in warm egg whites helps to prevent weeping. 

You’re Da Bomb! Chocolate Bomb, That Is

Chocolate Bombs ready to package

Chocolate Bombs are all the rage for holiday gift giving and I wanted to do something different for Valentine’s Day. Once you assemble the ingredients and equipment, these are actually relatively easy. There are plenty of instructions on the internet on making chocolate bombs.Being the purist that I am, I suggest using a high grade couverture chocolate instead of chocolate coating.Here is the link I used here. No need to re-invent the wheel.

I used Nestle’s White Chocolate Chips for the topping. Just melt them and place in a plastic decorators bag and cut off the tip end. After piping a swirl of chocolate, sprinkle with Valentine Sprinkles followed with a pinch of Disco Dust for bling. I noticed on a couple of the bombs the seams were not sealed so I piped a line of white chocolate to seal them. No need for perfection, they will look great and the recipient will love them..

Chocolate Bombs were placed in a clear bag and tied with a ribbon.

I printed a round tag with instructions and cut out with a 2 inch scalloped punch. There are plenty of free tags online or you could make your own.

The birdhouse was uploaded from Canvasworkspace and printed with my Scanncut. This step is totally unnecessary, but I wanted a box for the extra protection in mailing.

A tag for the Chocolate Bomb was a bird template from Scanncut
All the bird houses with chocolate bombs inside and ready to mail!

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    For more on melting chocolate and making cluster candy with the leftovers, access my post on Chocolate Dipped Strawberries

    Chili

    Visiting a local grocery store, I noticed they had suet in their meat counter. It immediately reminded me of a recipe that was given to me by Paula Bruce in the early 1970’s. The recipe was her paternal grandmother’s and it was Chili. The suet might turn most people off, but I know that the fat trimmed from the beef carcass is loaded with flavor and I wanted that in my chili. The suet doesn’t have to be consumed. I chill the chili after making and the fat becomes hard and easy to lift off leaving that fabulous flavor. The recipe is simple and makes a lot good for freezing or canning. Thanks Paula for sharing the recipe (mine is dated 1973) and for allowing me to share with others. Enjoy!

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    Chili

    Course Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Keyword chili fixin’s, cool weather food
    Prep Time 1 hour
    Cook Time 30 minutes
    Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

    Equipment

    • large pot

    Ingredients

    • 1 1/2 pounds suet ask butcher
    • 4 pounds ground beef
    • 2 ounces Mexene Chili Powder homemade recipe follows
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon comino seed
    • 6 slices white bread
    • 2 1/2 quarts boiling water

    Instructions

    • Fry out 1 1/2 pounds of suet in large pot. Remove browned meat leaving fat.
    • Add ground meat and cook until brown.
    • Add chili powder, garlic powder and salt.
    • Brown comino see in skillet. Roll or grind to a powder. Add to meat.
    • Dry six slices of bread in the oven. Grate in a food processor and add to meat.
    • Add 2 1/2 quarts of boiling water and leet simmer 30 minutes.
    • Test for seasonings and add to taste.
    • Serve immediately or cool and refrigerate. When completely cool, remove hardened fat from surface, reheat and serve.

    Notes

    Removing the fat reduces the calories yet the flavor still remains. 
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