Lemon Hand Pies

When I was a kid on road trips with my family, we'd often stop at a rest stop or gas station along the way. A family of seven makes pretty frequent stops, for obvious reasons. Sadly the food options were always pretty bleak. Throughout the years, I've noticed these rest stops (mainly along I-95) haven't really gotten much better. Why is it that all rest stops are dumpy? Is it too much to ask for a brief respite from our travels and some decent grub? Instead, we're stuck with noxious Cinnabon smells and foil wrapped burgers from Roy Rogers. Not saying I don't crave those burgers now and again, but I digress. 

One of the things my dad used to pick up at the gas station would be a Hostess Lemon Fruit Pie. In my opinion, these hand pies were the one shining star in a galaxy of bad food options. Remember these wax-paper-covered, sweet pastries?

Although my dad was the biggest fan, I also loved these little pies. Anytime I see them in the store, I contemplate buying a few. Sadly, Hostess doesn't make these pies the same way anymore. And even if I did buy a few, they wouldn't be as tasty as they were when I was a kid. So, recently I decided it was time to make a variation of them at home. And unlike the questionable "Real Fruit Filling" stated on that wax paper packaging, my pie filling is, in fact, a delicious lemon curd. I also swapped the generic pie crust for a walnut pie crust. If you're more of a traditionalist, however, feel free to omit the walnuts and stick with a basic crust. They're delicious either way.

Walnut Pie Crust
Makes enough dough for about 14 hand pies
INGREDIENTS
1 cup walnuts
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
1/3 cup ice water

DIRECTIONS
1. Use a small food processor or knife to finely chop walnuts then toss in a large bowl. Add the flour, sugar, salt and butter. Use a pastry blender or a large fork to cut the butter cubes into the dry ingredients, working quickly and incorporating all of the flour mixture until the butter pieces are the size of peas. Make sure you don't over-work the butter. Visible chunks of butter = tasty flakiness!

2. Slowly drizzle the ice water into the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just begins to pull together, drizzling more water if needed. (You might not use all of the water.) Pull dough together, divide into 2 disks and wrap each one tightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Chill in the fridge for at least two hours or overnight. While the dough chills, make the lemon curd.

Lemon Curd
INGREDIENTS
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, cubed

DIRECTIONS
In a saucepan set over medium-low heat, combine the egg yolks and sugar and whisk until incorporated. Add in the lemon zest and juice, stirring constantly until thickened, or about 8 minutes. Strain into a clean bowl and stir in the cubes of butter until completely melted. Let cool to room temperature, stirring occasionally to prevent a skin from forming on the top, then cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled. 

Assemble the Pies
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. Remove one of the pie dough disks from the fridge and roll out to about 1/8" thickness on a floured work surface. Use a large circle cutter (Or an upside down mug) to create circles about 4" wide. Transfer to the baking sheet and repeat until you've used up all the dough.

2. Place a giant spoonful of the lemon curd into the center of half of the circles, then top with another dough circle. Crimp the edges with a fork and cut slits in the top to let them vent. 

3. Create an egg wash by mixing an egg in a small bowl with a teaspoon of water. Use a pastry brush to cover each pie with the egg wash, then sprinkle with a pinch of turbinado sugar.

4. Bake pies for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Let them cool for a few minutes so you don't burn your mouth!

Make sure you strain the curd. It removes any little cooked egg bits and ensures you have a smooth filling.

 

Whole Plum Pies

Summer fruit desserts are truly the best–they're deliciously simple and nearly impossible to mess up. Also, the fruit filling is easily interchangeable. I made these whole plum pies with fresh plums (because I absolutely love the color of a plum), but you could swap 'em for a peeled peach or nectarine. Anything is delicious when it's wrapped in pie crust. (I mean, maybe not an old shoe, but most fruits are anyway.) And since nobody wants to be stuck in a hot kitchen in the summer, this dessert won't take up your entire day. In fact, you can make these in the morning and set them aside for dessert. Oh, and always add a scoop of vanilla ice cream:)

Whole Plum Pies

You'll Need:

Pie Crust (recipe below)

6 medium sized ripe plums, rinsed 

6 Tablespoons butter, cut into small cubes

6 teaspoons brown sugar

milk or egg wash

sliced almonds or turbinado sugar for topping the pies

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Remove one disk of pie crust from the fridge and roll out on a lightly floured work surface until the crust is about 1/8" thick. Use a large circle cutter or flip a bowl over and use a knife to trace around the rim to cut circles of dough that measure about 6" in diameter. Collect any scraps, re-roll and cut until you have six circles. 

2. Slice each plum in half and carefully cut out and discard the pit. You'll be left with a well in the center of the plum half where the pit was. Place a few cubes of butter and a teaspoon of sugar into the well of one half, then place the remaining plum half on top so the plum is whole again. 

3. Wrap the whole plum inside a dough circle and place into a heavily greased muffin tin. Repeat until all six plums are wrapped and in the tin. Brush the tops with milk or an egg wash and sprinkle the almonds or turbinado sugar on top. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the dough is golden brown and the plum is soft. Cool pies before removing from the tin and eating. 

Flaky Butter Pie Crust

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces 

1/3 cup ice water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Use a pastry blender or a large fork to cut the butter cubes into the flour, working quickly and incorporating all of the flour mixture until the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas. Make sure you don't over-work the butter. Visible chunks of butter = better tasting crust!

2. Slowly drizzle the ice water into the flour mixture and stir until the dough just begins to pull together. Pull dough together into a ball. Divide the dough in half and place each half on a large piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours. You'll probably only need one disk for this recipe, so keep the other disk chilled for another day.

Mini Pumpkin Pies with Cardamom Whipped Cream

It must be taboo to post two pumpkin recipes back to back. It likely breaks some unspoken blogging rule and a few of you might be personally offended with my blatant love of pumpkin. Well, if you are the type to take offense to such things, I simply cannot apologize. Choose a different battle, my friend! Here in NYC, this fall has been one of the most beautiful that I can remember. The vibrant leaves and festive cheer seem to have lasted for weeks and with Thanksgiving just around the corner, my pumpkin obsession has yet to be exhausted. These pies are easy, adorable and extra special with a touch of cardamom. The only thing you really need is a set of mini tart pans and you can get them here. If you don't want to make individual pumpkin pies (and why wouldn't you?!) you can go ahead and make a traditional sized pie. But I assure you, your Turkey Day guests will love their own individual dessert. If my next post is pumpkin again, I may need some sort of intervention. Until then, enjoy!

Pumpkin Pies
INGREDIENTS

Butter pie crust dough (recipe follows)

1 15oz. can pumpkin

1 14oz. can sweetened condensed milk

2 eggs

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/4 tsp. cloves

1/4 tsp. ginger

1/4 tsp. cardamom

1/2 tsp. salt

Cardamom Whipped Cream (recipe follows)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Roll out the chilled pie dough on a floured work surface. Dough should be about 1/8" thick. Cut approx. 5" circles out and press into mini pie tins. Cut off excess dough with a knife, re-using any extra scraps. Set prepared tins on a baking sheet and chill until ready to bake.

2. Combine pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger, cardamom and salt in a large bowl. Whisk together until ingredients are incorporated. Pour filling mix into prepared pie shells and bake for 20 minutes or until edges are set and the middle is still slightly wobbly. Let cool completely before topping with whipped cream. 

Butter Pie Crust
Makes enough dough for two single-crust pies, or 12 mini pies

INGREDIENTS

2 1/2 cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks very cold unsalted butter, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces 

1/3 cup ice water

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar and salt. Use a pastry blender or a large fork to cut the butter cubes into the flour mix, working quickly and incorporating all of the flour mixture until the butter pieces are the size of tiny peas. Make sure you don't over-work the butter. Visible chunks of butter = tasty flakiness!

2. Slowly drizzle the ice water into the flour mixture. Mix until the dough just begins to pull together, drizzling more water if needed. (You might not use all of the water.) Pull dough together into a ball and wrap tightly with a piece of plastic wrap. Form the dough into a disk and chill in the fridge for at least one hour.

Cardamom Whipped Cream

Use an electric mixer to beat about 1 1/2 cups chilled heavy whipping cream on high speed until soft peaks form. Mix in 2 Tablespoons of powdered sugar and 1/4 teaspoon of cardamom and beat for another 30 seconds. When ready to serve, top pies with a heaping spoonful of whipped cream.