Pecan pie adapted for readers in Germany! If you are looking for a recipe which is not sickenly sweet, but actually makes you taste the wonderful pecans, this recipe is for you! Needless to say that this recipe does not require any corn syrup and is made with molasses instead. If you have difficulty getting hold of pecans, you may as well use walnuts instead.
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.
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!
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?
I was not aware that the British Queen actually celebrated her 70th anniversary as a Monarch on February 2, 2022. Having reigned for 70 years, that is rare, as far as I understand she has broken all records. Obviously the Brits are celebrating, new stamps are being issued, there is going to be a tree in front of Buckingham Palace created out of 350 local British trees; yes, we all need to dress up for this special occasion and be on our best behavior. The Brits also announced a baking competition open to all people residing in the UK 8 years or older. The Platin Pudding was asked to be created. Apparently more than 5,000 people submitted a recipe. The winner is Jemma Melvin with a Lemon Swiss roll trifle with Amaretti. It is very time-consuming as all five different components are made from scratch. You can check her recipe here.
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!
May I present plum tart with twin dough! I have to say, I love this season, it is my favorite time of the year. Indian summer, I just love a good late summer day, with colder nights, but still nice clear skies and this wonderful golden light. One plus of this wonderful time is that plums are in season. My husband loves plums, if it were for him to decide, he would eat them all year round. There is a reason I have quite a few plum recipes on the blog. For example Kaiserschmarrn or broken-up pancakes, plum tart with cinnamon streusel, plum dumplings or Bavarian plum cake. Now this is one more to add.
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!
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.
Finally an American recipe again: Apple Pie! This one has an all-butter pie crust, lots of apples, and caramel sauce. I do already have an apple cranberry pie on this blog as well as apple pie with a cream cheese crust. The one you see here is an apple pie with caramel, not only as an extra drizzle, but mixed with the filling. And for that reason I didn’t add any further sugar to the filling, the caramel sweetens the apples enough. I should have known that my husband would finish off this pie in a second, he loves pies and it basically was gone once I put it down on the plate. But hey, no problem, just make another one! What’s not to like about apples, and caramel?
