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North American Recipes

How to Make an American Pie

Amerikanischer Cherry-Pie

After a long break I am going to do another “how to” tutorial. This is geared towards German people and non-Americans because I am going to talk about pie. What exactly is a pie? The most traditional pie has a dough base (pie crust) and a filling, it may have a second pie crust it is covered with. It was already popular among the American pioneers as it didn’t contain any leavener and could all be done by hand. It usually contains few ingredients such as flour, sugar, butter, egg, and milk and/or fruit or meats and has reached popularity also outside of the U.S. The most traditional pie is probably the apple pie, pumpkin pie or pecan pie is another classic you will find everywhere for Thanksgiving. In Germany pie is not that popular, even though the Europeans brought their different pies and tarts to the U.S. in the first place before it became so popular in the U.S.

It is impossible to find a proper pie form in Germany, I searched high and low, I used a springform (you can see a few pictures below with a springform), I used a tart form, until I finally gave up and simply ordered one online.  The one I currently use (I have two) is this one and it serves me well. What I do like about a proper pie form is that it chamfered, meaning that you will get more filling than in a tart form or springform. Below I will introduce you to many pie recipes and will give you tips on how to make sure that you are doing a proper American pie.

Amerikanischer Key Lime Pie

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Apple Pie with a Hint of Whisky

Apple Pie mit einem Schuss Whisky

I do already have a few apple pie recipes on my blog, but none contains alcohol yet. I find it pretty difficult baking with alcohol. You have to add so much and most of it evaporates during the baking process. But today I thought I would give this famous dessert a little twist and give it a try. So let me introduce you to this apple pie with a hint of whisky!

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Summery Peach Pie

Pfirsich-Pie

This summery peach pie is exactly what I need right now. I made the pie crust with buttermilk. Obviously, you can go for the regular pie crust, but I figured, why not try? Pie is something I love in summer, there are so many fruit options in summer. Since we had very ripe and juicy peaches being offered, I decided to go for a peach pie. Who wants a piece or two?

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Strawberry Lemon Cupcakes

Erdbeer-Zitronen-Cupcakes

Finally strawberry season is upon us. I thought I would introduce cute little strawberry cupcakes to you guys shortly before Mother’s Day. They are easily prepared and would be such a sweet gift. If you transport the cupcakes without the forsting, you can even travel a bit. I recommend swirling on the frosting shortly before serving. I mean, who wouldn’t love a lemon cupcake with strawberry-jam filling and whipped cream that is infused with freeze-dried strawberries?

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Pink Raspberry Champagne Cake

Today you will get a pink champagne raspberry cake, with no artificial food coloring, but a lot of alcohol. You may also use your favorite rose wine. I decided to use a traditional white cake as the base and put a lot of reduced champagne in it. These cake layers are then brushed in reduced champagne for extra flavor and also to keep the cake moist. The filling, on the other hand, is prepared with raspberries as I find their tart and acid flavor to combine nicely with the alcohol. Let’s celebrate with this pink champagne raspberry cake!

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Toffee Cake with Dates

Toffee-Torte mit Datteln

Warning, you will only be able to eat a small piece of this decadent toffee cake with dates. I find the combination of sweet dates with sticky toffee sauce so endearing. This is rich, this is soulfood. The cake layers are sweetened with dates, the buttercream contains toffee sauce and of course the whole cake needs to be soaked in toffee sauce. I decided to sprinkle this cake with a little bit of coarse salt to cut the sweetness a bit. This is a prefect cake for a gloomy November day or any day that needs some comfort food.

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Classic Apple Pie

Klassischer Apple Pie aus USA

Guys, I have not introduced a classic apple pie yet. What a shame! As October is the months of apples and apple picking, I decided to introduce it now. Apple pie is something almost everybody loves, even though pie crust can be a little intimidating. If you would like to learn how to deal with pie crust, I recommed this blog post. But let’s give the floor to apple pie!

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Classic Cherry Pie

Amerikanischer Cherry-Pie

If you are married to a huge cherry lover, and I am talking about a pound per day, you may think that said cherry lover would like to try a cherry pie. So I decided to give it a go and made a classic cherry pie as known and loved in the U.S. I find American recipes very sweet, so I reduced the amount of sugar. Also, as is typical in the U.S., I used water instead of an egg to bind the dough. And then I presented below pie to my cherry lover. When he took the first bite, he didn’t say anything, but instead simply asked for more within seconds. Obviously this was a huge hit!

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Chocolate Chip Cake

Chocolate-Chip-Torte

If you can’t decide whether you want a cookie or a cake, this chocolate chip cake is for you! It combines the flavors of a chocolate chip cookie with a cake and a glas of milk. My hubby ate it very happily and confirmed that this had been by far his favorite cake in a long time. Since he got so excited about it, I decided to publish it as a possible “Valentine’s cake”, even though it most definitely is not the most common Valentine’s cake. No red hearts, no kitsch, but if hubby is happy, who cares? By the way, I love all the combos of cookie/cake. I also have a gigantic cookie in a pan with the cookie monster on top or this cookie cake with peanut butter frosting.

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(Key) Lime Pie

Amerikanischer Key Lime Pie

Today we have American (key) lime pie. This pie is traditionally from Floriday and hence uses the limes from the keys in Florida. Key limes are smaller and sweeter in flavor than regular limes. However, since I am located in Germany and can’t get hold of key limes, we are going to use regular limes for this lime pie. I personally love serving a citrus dish in winter. I love this tart and refreshing flavor on a winter day. You don’t even need to make whipping cream, you can also enjoy this pie in its very pure and simple form. I like it best on day 3.

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