The rhubarb patch in the garden is ready for harvest and one of my favorite things to make is pie. This recipe is sweet and tart, what I like is there is only natural sugar in the pie. It’s made with maple syrup, lemon and ginger. Very simple ingredients and easy to make. 
Ingredients:
I decided to share this recipe, since it was such a big hit. We shot a peanut butter pie in the studio, the stylist made two different recipes and this was the winner. I brought some home and it did not last long. If you are a peanut butter and chocolate fan this is a sweet treat, emphasis on the sweet and rich. We garnished the pie with reeses peanut butter cups and made a graham cracker crust instead of the pie dough. Both sounded like improvements. This recipe is from the pillsbury web site fluffernutter pie. I may just have to make this some day for someone special.
styled by Barb Standal
A Grasshopper Pie a slice of spring for Easter. This pie is a classic you don’t see around as much as we did when we were kids. So why not be retro and whip up a minty fluffy pie for the holidays? As a kid it was a big treat to order a Grasshopper at the restaurant, still one of my favorites. (can u still order those for kids theses days?) Especially when you are at a swanky supper club in the middle of rural mid-west america. And any excuse to buy a bottle of creme de menthe. This pie is one big flash back…good times
For the crust
For the filling
Make the crust:
In a bowl stir together the wafer crumbs, the sugar, and the butter until the mixture is combined well, pat the mixture onto the bottom and up the side of a buttered 9-inch pie plate, and bake the crust in the middle of a preheated 450°F. oven for 5 minutes. Let the crust cool.
Make the filling:
In a metal bowl mix in the gelatin with a 1/3 cup of the cream and let it soften for 5 minutes. Whisk in the sugar, the crème de menthe, the crème de cacao, and the egg yolks, set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it registers 160°F. on a candy thermometer. Transfer the bowl to a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir the mixture until it is cooled and thickened. In another bowl beat the remaining 1 cup cream until it holds stiff peaks and fold it into the crème de menthe mixture thoroughly.
Pour the filling into the crust and chill the pie for 4 hours, or until is set. Dollop with whipped cream and sprinkle the pie with the chocolate cookie crumbs.
food stylist: Barb Standal and Karla Spies
We were shooting a lemon meringue pie this week at the photo studio and I wanted to share with you this beautiful pie that the food stylist Barb Standal created. I wish I could say I could bake such a well crafted crust and wield a lovely swirl top, but I can only admire the skills of Barb. I did get to be a part of the Meringue testing that took place a few days before the photo shoot, they tested four different meringue recipes to test how they performed when baked. So of course we had to do a taste test along the way. One was too sweet, one was too saggy, one was too eggy and one was just right. I will share with you the recipe of the winner..Cuz Betty know’s best. The winner was no other than the classic Betty Crocker. Hopefully this might inspire you to bake this beautiful pie a nice treat.
Cool update Star Tribune story on Lemon Meringue:
<a href=”http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/taste/197866881.html” target=”_blank”></a>
I found this recipe for Chocolate Balsamic Ganache and had to make some. This recipe is pretty simple and looks pretty fancy. I am not above making a brownie from a box, still baking in my book. Get your favorite brownie recipe and make them in a cupcake pan, you can make each desert. I then used some Creme Fraiche to frost each brownie cupcake. I put like four fresh raspberries on top and drizzled the chocolate balsamic ganache on top. Delicious and fabulous holiday presentation.
This ganche recipe is pretty versatile, if you cool it longer you can use it as a frosting or some people make truffles. Or use a flavored balsamic to add a flavor twist. Any way you want to use it’s yummy.
Summer time is great for Creme Brulee, with all the fresh berries and mint in season. It is a great custard that you can serve cold. It is a very old dessert consist of a rich custard base topped with a contrasting layer of hard caramel. The top of this is cooked using a torch or some people use flaming liquor. But, this dessert is served cold.
“The Spanish have taken credit for this sensuous custard as “crema catalana” since the eighteenth century, while the English claim it originated in seventeenth-century Britain, where it was known as “burnt cream” and the English school boys at Cambridge demanded it. It apparently wasn’t until the end of the nineteenth century that common usage of the French translation came into vogue, putting it on the map from Paris to Le Cirque in New York City. Its wide recognition today seems to have given the French credit for inventing crème brûlée.”
I worked with Karla Spies a food stylist and we came up with this very quaint idea of making the Creme Brulee in a tea-cup, very pretty. Just make sure that you put the cup in a bath of water when you put the custard in the oven to cook. Makes a very nice presentation and a great way to use that old china.
I have one more Rhubarb pie recipe to share with you. And my super cute niece, enjoying some desert pretty much says it all. The joy of a delicious dessert, I believe she is working on her seconds.
This pie is easy to make and I added fresh chopped up ginger to the crumble, you can never have enough ginger.
I have been intrigued by these roasted and grilled fruits, so far all I’ve ever done is grill up some pineapple. I was ready to expand my horizons. I teamed up with Maggie the Food Stylist and we came up with this recipe. We started by going on-line and searching for some ideas. We found these recipes for roasted strawberries.
Recipe from leite’s Culinari
The roasted berries are savory and sweet. It punched a lot more flavor into each bite. Sometimes the store-bought strawberries can be a disappointment, they look great but have no flavor. Roasting fruit extract the natural sweetness and caramelizes the juices. We decided to make a shortcake dessert out of the berries. I like to keep it simple and do what I know, and that’s Betty Crocker Original Bisquick just like mom used to make.
Make some fresh whipping cream and garnish with mint. A new twist to a classic dessert.
Food styling by Maggie Stopera www.maggiethefoodstylist.com
Whoopie Pies are soft cake like cookies with frosting filling sandwiched between the cookies. As you can tell the holidays gets me in the mood to bake and share with friends. So I’m not the only one slacking on the diet, no one likes to snack alone. These cookies are very rich it is not just a cookie, it’s dessert. A good alternative to a pumpkin pie. Next time I will make them smaller more bite size portions. They should be stored in the refrigerator and best to eat and not let sit around too long. There are many versions of Whoopie Pies, I will need to explore more combinations. Perhaps a brownie with peanut butter filling…mmmm
Over Thanksgiving break we went to Chicago for a night and explored the Modern wing of The Art Institute. Great way to spend the rainy afternoon.
When I think of pie, I think my aunt’s thanksgiving pies. Lined up on grandma’s counter tempting me all evening till dessert. There was always several to choose from, the classic pumpkin, apple and perhaps a banana cream pie. My aunt makes the best pie crusts they are flakey salty and sweet. I try to duplicate her recipe but it never seems to come out as good. And I have not mastered the rolling out the dough nice and even. I did just read a recent tip of rolling out the crust between two pieces of plastic wrap, I will have to try this next time. I found this classic apple recipe, I have to be honest it had me at Cider-Bourban Sauce. A nice warm slice of apple pie with some sauce and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. mmmm What else says Fall.
Crust
Filling
Cider-Bourbon Sauce
For Crust :
Mix flour, sugar, salt and apple pie spice in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add sour cream and blend in using on/off turns just until dough forms. Turn out dough onto lightly floured surface. Divide in half. Form each half into a ball; flatten into disk. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour.
For Filling:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss first 6 ingredients together in bowl.
Roll out 1 dough disk between sheets of plastic wrap to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet; invert dough into 9 1/2-inch deep-dish glass pie dish. Peel off plastic. Roll out remaining dough disk between sheets of plastic wrap to 13-inch round. Peel off top sheet of plastic. Mound filling in pie dish. Invert dough over filling. Peel off plastic. Pinch edges of dough to seal. Trim excess crust. Crimp edges decoratively. Cut 5 slashes in top of dough to allow steam to escape. Brush top with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until golden brown, covering with foil if browning too quickly, about 1 hour.
Let pie stand until just slightly warm, about 1 hour. Serve pie with ice cream and Cider-Bourbon Sauce.
For the cider-bourbon sauce:
Boil apple cider in heavy medium saucepan until reduced to 3/4 cup, about 45 minutes. Add butter and sugar and whisk until butter melts. Boil 3 minutes, whisking occasionally. Remove from heat. Whisk in bourbon. Cool sauce completely before serving.
The left over pie crust makes a yummy crust crisp. Melt some butter, smooth over rolled out crust sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon and bake till flakey. Enjoy
Apple slice styled by food stylist Barb Standal.
photoappetite 
