My New Favorite Pie

I liked this Chocolate Pudding Pie so much that I immediately had to make another one. Adhered to the same substitutions as the first version (link above). This is my new favorite pie. Whew, and with that, I'm caught up just in time for the next flurry of pie mania. Current Pie Tally: 79

Eastover Vinegar Chess Pie

Almost forgot about this one. I made this for an Easter weekend neighborhood party. I remembered the cream (actually used half and half instead) this time and it came out great as usual. No earth-shattering news on this one, but I will say that it is a great pie for slicing into lots of small slices to go around. Everything holds together well. Recipe can be found here. Current Pie Tally: 78

Chocolate Pudding Pie

I made this pie as a belated birthday present to myself, in hopes of raising the bar from last year's birthday pie attempt. I definitely succeeded. Where last year's pie was dense and dry, this one is sumptuously gooey and fabulous. This is my first go-round with a graham cracker crust. I have to say, I like how easy it is. Throw graham crackers in a the food processor, add some melted butter, and press into a pie dish. Bake for a few minutes and done. Add your puddingy custardy goodness and let it chill. It's nice to not have the oven blasting away for an hour for a change. When you throw some fresh whipped cream on top, it really is pure chocolate awesome. It's almost like S'mores. Hmmm, maybe I could jazz up the whipped topping with some marshmallow. Recipe can be found here. I used regular graham crackers instead of chocolate, arrowroot starch instead of cornstarch, and didn't add any of the espresso to the whipped cream.

Current Pie Tally: 77

When Your Crust Hangs Low

I made dinner for the neighbors a couple weeks ago and threw in a Vinegar Chess Pie for good measure. Since it's a one-crust pie, I decided to make two so I could keep one too. In addition to the crust of one of the pies falling down during cooking (the one I decided to keep), I had another mental lapse on this pie expedition and forgot to add the cream the recipe calls for. I even bought the cream special just to make this pie. Initially, this made me mad. After a taste test though, the pie was still delicious and I decided to use the cream as an excuse to make another pie. A new exciting and very delectable pie. See the next post for more on that.

Current Pie Tally: 76

In-Laws in Town Apple Pie

My husband's parents came to visit for Spring Break this year. Among seeing the famous DC cherry blossoms and visiting a wide array of museums, we managed to find time to celebrate Stepmom Viv's birthday with the above apple pie. It was tasty, but I'll let you in on a little secret: I forgot to add the flour to the filling. The flour serves as the thickener, so the pie didn't end up with any of that "goopy gloppy" goodness that you'd expect. The filling was more like applesauce than syrup. It was good in its own way, and no one else said anything about it, but it almost tasted healthy. When you're ingesting that many calories, the last thing you want is for it to taste healthy. Suffice to say, I was a bit disappointed. It's amazing the toll a toddler can take on one's cognitive ability to process recipes. For more on that, see the next post. The recipe for the apple pie in this post (complete with thickening agents) can be found here. The only change is that I used brown rice syrup instead of molasses in this one.

Current Pie Tally: 74

Valentine's Cupcakes

Although these carrot cake cupcakes are not a pie, I made them from scratch for Valentine's Day and they are delicious. You can find the recipe here. My modifications are that I only made half of the recipe and I turned them into cupcakes instead of a layer cake. As such, the cupcakes only need to bake for 30-35 min.

Current Pie Tally: 73

Quickie Pie

Pecan is definitely my go-to winter pie, mostly because the crust doesn't require pre-baking. It takes about 1.5 hours, start to finish, and about one hour of that involves the pie sitting in the oven while you have a cocktail and get ready for the party you're going to. Normally, I don't adorn my pie with any toppings that might undermine the full-force flavor of the pie, but pecan pie tends to be an exception. I always enjoy my pecan pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if the option presents itself. When I had a slice of the pie from this post, there was a twist. Our party hosts had also put out a small ice cream sundae bar on the dessert table. Our neighbor started talking through the possibilities of the caramel and hot fudge toppings on the pecan pie. Normally, this would piss me off, but I tend to loosen up my pie purism with the pecan pie. I said, "Caramel - no. Hot fudge - definitely go for it." My thoughts turned to black-bottom pecan pie, with a warm chocolate layer dancing with the sweet, nutty pecans in my mouth. It had to be done. When backs were turned, I brought my ice-cream topped slice over to the hot fudge and added a couple dollops myself. Suffice to say, the experience shall be relived. It was heavenly. Now I'm on a mission to find/tweak a Black-Bottom Pecan Pie recipe that is up to snuff. For my go-to Pecan Pie recipe, click here.

Current Pie Tally: 73