PIE!

Over the last couple weeks I have been on a bit of a pie kick. The first pie I made was for our annual get away with friends, "Nate Fest". I was slow to choose a meal to make for the gang, and everyone volunteered before me. I decided to bring beverages and desserts, which is honestly the two things I love most in this world!

I found this delicious and easy recipe on the blog Huckleberry Prairie. It is a blueberry cherry pie... and one pie was NOT enough for our large queue. Note to self....make twice as much as next year!

Blueberry Cherry Pie
Crust ingredients needed:
1 1/2 cup flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp milk
2/3 cup vegetable oil
Mix together until ball of dough forms. Pat out into pan. Make additional crust for pie top.

I cheated and used ready-made pie crust! Shhhhh.....

Pie Filling:
1/2 cup sugar2 tbsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 can (21 oz) cherry pie filling
1 1/2 cup frozen blueberries

Mix sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon.Add cherry pie filling and blueberries. Mix.Pour into prepared crust.Roll out second crust on floured wax paper.Cut out star shapes with small star cookie cutter.

Egg white mixture:
1 egg white
1 tsp of water
2 tsp sugar
Mix egg white and water. Brush on stars and sprinkle with sugar.

Cover pie crust edges with foil and bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees for 35 minutes WITHOUT star crust top.

After 35 minutes, remove foil edges and add stars in any pattern you desire.

Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until stars and crust are golden brown.

The next Pie was made for a very pregnant co-worker who craves banana flavored foods... not bananas! For this reason, I had to make some slight modifications to the recipe. Link to the original recipe listed below. This time I wised up and made TWO! It received rave reviews, several declaring it the best banana cream pie they have every had. It came to me courtesy of Country Living Magazine (May 2009 issue).


Banana Pudding Pie

The original recipe can be found here.

Here were my modifications:

Crust:
2 c Vanilla wafers, crushed
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
2 Tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
5 Tbsp butter, melted
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together and press mixture into a 9-inch pie plate. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Filling:
1 Large box Instant Banana Pudding, prepared according to box directions
1 cup fresh whipped cream
5 Tbsp of Caramel Sauce/ice cream topping, plus extra for garnish
2-3 Bananas, sliced

Gently fold whip cream into prepared and cooled banana pudding, set aside. Layer sliced bananas over cooled crust. Drizzle the caramel over the bananas and top with pudding mixture. Chill for 2 hours, or overnight. Decorate with remaining banana slices and caramel (and maybe some chopped pecans!).