A Little Slice of Heaven

Grasshopper pie has long been my favorite.  In our family, we weren’t big on cakes.  When our birthdays rolled around, the questions wasn’t what Disney character do you want on your birthday cake, the question was – What kind of pie do you want mom to make?  And my answer was usually – Grasshopper Pie Please!!!  No matter that its February and this is a frozen pie.  No matter that my birthday is on Valentine’s Day and this color palette fits St. Patrick’s day with much greater accuracy.  No matter, I LOVE grasshopper pie!

For years I was afraid to make this pie by myself.  I don’t know why, turns out its actually extremely simple.  Only one measuring spoon involved and no oven.  That’s my kind of pie for a very hot summer day.  The ingredients are easy enough to assemble:

Ingredients - Sweet and Delicious!

The amount of Oreos – oops, I mean “chocolate sandwhich cookie” – and marshmallows are actually counted out instead of measured by volume.  24 of each. Exactly 24 – that’s what mom’s recipe card says, and that’s gospel to me.  The other ingredients are evaporated canned milk, whipping cream, butter and a couple of Liqueurs.  Now for a note on the Liqueurs:

Mom’s recipe card says Creme de Menthe (easy enough) and Creme de Cacao (not so easy).  I had to buy the bottles this time because as I’ve said, I haven’t made this one solo before.  So the recipe specifically calls for Creme de Cacao, but what I bought at the liquor store is Creme de Cocoa.  Same thing? Probably.  But stupidly, I bought the dark Creme de Cocoa because I thought it was the same thing as the light (or clear) Creme de Cocoa, just in an amber bottle.  Wrong.  So as I was making the pie this morning, I went to measure the Creme de Cocoa and discovered that it was indeed dark brown.  The pie’s beautiful light green color comes from the Creme de Menthe.  Had I gone ahead and added the dark Creme de Cocoa it would have turned out roughly the color of mud.  So I had a little freak out and sent my terribly wonderful husband off to the liquor store to purchase the correct liqueur.  After a few calls back and forth, some of them involving my mom, we decided that the clear Creme de Cocoa is probably the same thing as Creme de Cacao.  Jeez that was an ordeal!  And 13 wasted dollars later, we have an extra bottle of liqueur we will probably never use.  Anyone have any brilliant uses for dark Creme de Cocoa?

So in summary – buy Creme de Menthe and clear Creme de Cocoa (Cacao).

Creme de WHAT??

Now that that is all sorted out, go ahead and make the crust.  Life is so easy with a food processor, but lacking that, you may certainly bash the cookies up with a rolling pin and stir in the butter.  Once the cookies and butter are mooshed up, press them into a 9″ pie dish.

Chocolate Cookie Crust

Once that is done, move on to the filling.  In a saucepan over low heat, melt the marshmallows with the canned milk, stirring pretty much constantly.

Melty Marshmallows

Once that is melty and smooth, set it aside, off the heat, and allow to cool.  While that’s cooling, get your whipping cream whipped up until firm, but not stiff.  And not butter either…don’t walk away from the mixer!

When the marshmallow mixture is cooled (but probably still slightly warm), add the liqueurs.  Stir to incorporate.

Minty Swirls

Then fold in the whipped cream:

Finishing the Filling

Now just pour it into the pie crust and throw – I mean, carefully place, the pie in the freezer.  Freeze for a few hours before serving.

Pie Pre-Freeze

Did anyone notice the frozen shredded zucchini lording over it in the freezer?

After its frozen, just slice it up and enjoy!

Recipe after the jump.

Grasshopper Pie – from Mom

24 chocolate creme-filled cookies (aka Oreos)
1/4 cup butter, melted
24 large marshmallows
8 oz canned evaporated milk
2 Tbsp Creme de Menthe
2 Tbsp Creme de Cacao
8 oz heavy whipping cream

To make the crust, combine the cookies and melted butter in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade.  Process until it is the texture of wet sand.  Alternatively, crush the cookies in a zip-top bag with a rolling pin.  Stir to combine with the melted butter.

Press the cookie/butter mixture into a 9 inch pie dish.

In a saucepan (preferably a non-stick pan), combine the canned milk and marshmallows.  Over low to medium-low heat, stirring constantly, slowly melt the marshmallows.  Once the marshmallows are completely melted into the milk, remove them from the heat, set aside and allow to cool.

While the marshmallow mixture is cooling, whip the heavy whipping cream using a mixer until it is firm, but not stiff.

Once the marshmallow mixture is cooled (but possibly still slightly warm), add the Creme de Menthe and Creme de Cacao.  Then, gently fold in the whipped cream (do not whisk or stir).

Pour the finished filling into the pie crust.  Place in the freezer for at least 2-3 hours.

My Kind of Pi!

As my wonderfully geeky husband pointed out to me, today is Pi Day.  And for all of you non-geeks out there, the date is 3-14.  Still don’t get it?  You need to review your 4th grade notes on geometry.  As I have mentioned before, I come from a family of pie makers. My mom especially makes what I consider to be perfect pies.  Good ingredients, flaky crusts and a lot of love and time go into perfect pies.

When deciding what pie to make today, I tried to weigh ease of prep with seasonal availability of ingredients.  Throw in the likes/dislikes of my husband, and there are precious few options.  The easy prep choice would clearly be pumpkin.  Nothing is easier to make than pumpkin pie filling, unless of course if you use freshly roasted pumpkin (which is more work than its worth, and not seasonally available right now).  However, to me, pumpkin pie itself is very seasonal and should only be consumed between Halloween and Christmas.  Since we are fast approaching St. Patrick’s Day, that choice is out.  Fruit pies were my next logical choice and again, must be chosen seasonally.  Berry pies are out due to their mid-winter expense and general ickiness of out-of-season berries.  Lemon Meringue is always a good choice, but a bit too high on the difficulty scale.  What does that leave us with??  Apple of course!  Apples are nearly always available, my husband loves it, and its about mid-range on the difficulty scale.  Sounds like a winner to me.  So after finding the recipe in Betty Crocker and calling my mom for her top-secret tips, I was off to the races.

I am super lucky to be married to a man who doesn’t mind peeling apples.  So I set him to work.

The Pro Peeler

He even got to use his apple coring/slicing toy.  Gadgets make him so happy!

The apple gadget

And by the way, these apple slices were then cut in half, so 16 slices per apple yields about the proper thickness.

Meanwhile, I was working on the pie crust.  I used my mom’s super simple and easy recipe.  Of course the key is REAL BUTTER.  No substitutions please.

Pi dough

The use of the food processor is key here.  You can of course use a pastry cutter, if you’re masichistic.  This recipe (below) makes enough for 2 crusts.  This is fine for a two crust apple pie, but that’s now how I roll.  So I froze the other half to use later.  Wrap in plastic first, then seal in a heavy-duty bag.

Yummy Extras

I rolled out the rest, with liberal use of flour both on the work-surface as well as the rolling pin.  Roll out to about 2 inches larger than the outer circumference of your pie dish.

Rolled out Dough

Then, to make your life easier, gently roll the dough over your rolling pin to transfer it to the pie dish.

Dough Transfer

Now just push the crust into place along the sides of the dish, crimp the sides (easier said than done, I know), and you’re done with the crust!  Stick it in the fridge until you’re ready to fill and bake it.

Finished Crust

Now on to the filling.  I use the Betty Crocker recipe with a slight cooking alteration, as per my mom’s instructions.  I believe she learned this trick from the Pie and Pastry Bible.  The trick is to slightly cook the filling on the stove top before putting it in the crust and baking it.  Just combine the apples and filling ingredients in a large NON-STICK (seriously, non-stick only) sauce pan.  Stir very frequently, otherwise it’ll stick like crazy to the bottom.  Cook only until the apples are slightly soft.  As my mom told me 3 times, you do not want applesauce pie.  I used my candy-thermometer as I was told not to let the temperature go above 130.  I do as I’m told.

Cooking the Filling

Once the filling is slightly cooked, fill the pie crust with it.  Then move on to the topping.  I am a huge fan of the crumb topping in lieu of the second crust on top.  Again, just blitz up the ingredients in the food processor, or use a fork as I did for my mom growing up.  Once its at a fine-crumb consistency, pile it onto the apple filling.  Pour it into the center of the pie, then just use your fingers to distribute it to the outer edges.  Fill in the gaps and edges completely with the topping.

The Unbaked Pi

Now just bake it according to the recipe!  And be sure to follow the tip of covering with foil for the last 10 minutes of baking.  Unless you like the taste of burning, you’ll really regret not doing it!

Finished Pi

So that’s how you celebrate Pi Day, at least where I’m from.

Prep Ranking: #5 – Got all day?
Tastiness Grade: 10 out of 10

Recipes after the jump. Enjoy!!

French Apple Pie
adapted from Betty Crocker

1 pie crust (half a recipe) see below
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup AP Flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg (fresh is best)
Dash of salt
8 cups thinly sliced and peeled tart apples (about 8 medium) – I used Granny Smith Apples

Before making filling, prepare the pie dough and place in the fridge.  Heat oven to 425F.

Mix the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in a small mixing bowl.  Place the apples in a large mixing bowl.  Pour the dry ingredients over the apples and mix to coat the apples.  Transfer the mixture to a large, non-stick sauce-pan (or deep sided skillet).  Cook on med-low heat for about 15 minutes with nearly constant stirring until the apples are very slightly softened.  If you are using a thermometer, do not let the mixture exceed 130F.  Transfer the cooked mixture to the cold pie crust.

Meanwhile, assemble the crumb topping mixture in a food processor (or a medium-sized mixing bowl, using a fork to blend).

Crumb Topping:
1 cup AP flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup firm butter.

Process or mix until completely incorporated and crumbly.  Pour this mixture over the apple filling in the pie crust and distribute evenly over the top of the pie.

Bake for ~40 minutes at 425F.  Then, remove the pie and cover with foil to prevent further browning.  Place back in the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes.  Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Pie Dough

2 cups AP flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted cold butter
~1/4-1/3 cup ice cold water

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in the bowl of the food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Then add the butter, cut into chunks.  Process until the butter is crumbly and incorporated.  Very slowly, add the water through the opening at the top of the processor while it is running.  Add only enough water that the dough starts to come away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface a knead lightly a couple times to bring the dough together.  Divide in half and either store the rest (in the freezer) or use for another pie.  Roll out the pie dough to the correct size for the pie being made and transfer to the pie plate.