How to keep your pie dough from cracking!

So I found some really great advice on the Pie Academy website about how to keep dough from cracking when you roll it out. This is something I've struggled with for a while. And I've just gotten used to patching my dough when I get it into the pie plate.

Here is their advice:
1) Make sure you fully incorporate your fat with your flour. Don't leave large chunks of fat.

2) Don't be afraid to add more water! Don't be afraid... A moister dough with roll out easier.

3) Kneed your dough once. Then place on plastic wrap and form into a disc. Pinch together any cracked edges.

4) Then flour dough and put in a gallon sized freezer bag and roll into an 8" circle. Then seal bag and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

5) When you are ready to roll your dough, take it out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes.

http://thepieacademy.com/how-to-keep-your-pie-dough-from-cracking-when-you-roll-it-video-lesson/

Lucky Number Pie!

So this is peach pie numero four. And four is my lucky number. I made this beauty with georgia peaches. And it smells delish. When I was cutting the peaches I tried one and they were perfectly ripe. Ooo, lala, I haven't tried this pie yet, because I'm having it for breakfast, but I know it's going to be wonderfully sweet and peachy. 

I'm currently working on making my crust look better. Crimping the edges is always hard for me and I put tin foil on top of the pie half way through baking to try to get it not to burn. I think it worked all right.

White Peach Pie... Delish!

I've never eaten a white peach in my life. But when I went to the store to buy peaches, they looked so pretty and smelled so nice I couldn't resist.

I had a lot more luck with the quality of the peaches this time. This really helped the flavor of the pie have that nice bright and sweet flavor. I also measured the peach juice that I added back to the pie so it wasn't too runny. A success!

Peach Pie Numero Dos

I made this peach pie to take to my friends family reuinion. I believe, since making pies, you can't see extended family without feeding them a sweet treat. I got really experimental with this pie.

For a long time I have been wanted to play with my crust recipe. I wanted to incorporate butter into it. Normally I use Crisco and lard, so what I did was use all three! I just divided them by 1/3 cup and the flakiness of the crust held up. And I'm just hoping it tastes buttery, because I haven't tried it yet.

For the filling I added some more sugar. I also added a couple squirts of honey, just for a flavor boost. And when I was putting the filling together I totally spaced measuring the lemon zest and juice so this pie has the juice and zest of one whole lemon! So when I present this pie to Robert's family, I hope they like it. Because I have no idea what it will taste like. lol

 

The first Peach Pie of 2015! Let the experimentation begin!

So I'm getting ready for Fair season. As of July 1st peaches have gone into season and that's the kind of pie that I feel I'm the best at making. I also happen to love peach pie. So if I make 20 of them I can tolerate to eat all twenty! I looked and looked for the peach pie recipe that won the blue ribbon at the Benton County Fair last year, but I couldn't find it. 

So I've decided to just start experimenting. I think it will be fun. I remembered most of the recipe that I used last year. And my crust is in really good shape. I did hear a rumor that the judges at the state fair love the taste of a crust that has butter in it. But my pie crust has no butter. So, I'm trying to incorporate it into the fats that I already use.

This peach pie turned out really well. I think I want to add more sugar next time. But that's really my only gripe. I'm going to make another pie on Monday. In that pie I will add more sugar and I'm going to play with the crust and put butter in it. Yee-Um!

One Apple Pie for my Dad, and another for a friend.

These Apple Pies were made with six Granny Smith apples a piece. The flavor is very nice with nutmeg, cinnamon, lemon juice, brown sugar, white sugar and butter. The crust baked nicely, but I didn't keep a very good eye on it because my father's pie got a smidge of a burn. But it still tastes great! I made the raven pie for a friend who foam sword fights and goes my the alias of Raven. He helped us make a lot of weapons and has been very friendly... Which of course means he needs pie in his life! 

After taking the pie making class last fall I feel like I've gotten better at the craft of apple pie making. It's silly because apple pie is the most traditional, but it's the one pie I'm bad at crafting! So I'm always down to make another to try to get better at it. I can't wait to eat this!

Chocolate Caramel Tart... Disaster! But Delicious!

So I saw this chocolate caramel tart on Pintrest. I had to try it. It had my two favorite things. It also had a homemade caramel that you make from sugar and water on the stove top. That turned out great. But when I added the chocolate ganache to the top and refrigerated like instructed the tart was impossible to cut apart. Then I figured the caramel was too cold and needed to be warmed up, but then the tart just melted. Geez. This thing tastes great but is pretty impossible to serve and look good while doing it. I think I'm going to leave the rest of the tart on the kitchen counter while I go to work and see if that makes any difference. It might strike the right balance between being cuttable and not melting. 

This is a photo of a slice of the tart after I left it out for four hours and let the caramel warm a bit. It make the slices a lot easier to cut. This tart is incredibly delicious. When it's the right temperature the caramel melts on your tongue and the chocolate ganache is sweet and rich.

I'm not mad though. I love it when recipes don't go as planned. That's where we learn the most! And I had never made a homemade caramel before and now I know exactly what to do the next time I buy ice cream. mmmm