Resolution Breaker Tollhouse Pie

Happy New Year! Have you made your resolutions yet? Do any of them happen to involve healthier eating and/or weight loss? If so, you may want to stop reading now, because this month's Pies With That challenge was all about creating a pie so tempting, it could only be called a resolution breaker.

It didn't take me long to decide what kind of pie I wanted to make. For Christmas I received the Baked cookbook, and after hearing so many good things, I was anxious to try out a recipe. First to catch my eye was Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie, described as a cross between a pecan pie and a chocolate chip cookie.
*insert sound of record scratching*
I'm sorry, a pie that is also a cookie? HOW have I not heard about this until now? What other awesome dessert hybrids are on the loose without my knowledge? You had all better enlighten me, stat!

And with that, it was decided. In blatant disregard to my own personal fitness goals, I started my new year by having Tollhouse Pie and homemade Creme Fraiche Ice Cream for breakfast. We justified it by deciding that such a rich dessert was surely a sign of prosperity and happiness for the coming year! That IS how karma works, right?

The pie started out looking pretty homely. I made the pie crust, but it could easily be made using a purchased frozen crust. The recipe doesn't state that it should be parbaked, but since I usually parbake the crust for my pecan pies, I went ahead and did a partial bake. Next time I might omit the step and see how it turns out. The batter itself is like a fairly thick cake batter--midway between a cookie dough and a liquidy pecan pie filling. It baked up puffed and golden brown, and smelled heavenly all during the baking.
Its appearance greatly improved once I cut a slice and topped it with a scoop of the creme fraiche ice cream, still soft from being freshly churned. (I think this is a pie that definitely needs a topping to cut the richness, either ice cream or lightly sweetened whipped cream.) I used macadamia nuts in place of walnuts, and next time I might throw some shredded coconut in as well, to make a tropical chocolate chip cookie pie.

And HERE is something crazy--just now, as I was typing up the recipe, I realized that I left out 1/2 cup of brown sugar from the pie! That's fully half of the sugar the recipe calls for. This might explain why the filling wasn't as gooey as I would have hoped. (Whoops.) However, it was still a great pie. The consistency was almost exactly like a soft, baked cookie. (And it definitely wasn't lacking for sweetness.) I would like a little more goo, but Jason loved the cookie aspect, because, as he says, "Having a cookie in pie form makes it more socially acceptable to smother it with ice cream!" Well played, sir.

We both agreed that this was a pie worth breaking a resolution for. Wouldn't you agree?


Check out the other sinfully good pies after January 6th on the You Want Pies With That blog. Want to ruin your own weight-loss efforts? Pie and ice cream recipes are below!


Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie
from Baked by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito

1 pie crust, frozen
1/2 cup AP flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (1.5 sticks) unsalted butter, softened and cubed
1 tbsp whiskey (I omitted and added a little vanilla extract)
3/4 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (I subbed macadamia nuts)
1.25 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Beat the eggs on high in a mixing bowl fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat until foamy, about 3 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment, and add the flour and sugars. Beat for 2 minutes on high. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter, beating on high until well-combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the whiskey, and beat on high for 1 minute.

Fold the nuts and 1 cup of chocolate chips into the filling. Scrape into the prepared pie shell and smooth into an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup chocolate chips on top. Bake for 40-50 minutes, covering the edges of the crust with foil if it gets too brown. The pie is done when it is puffed and golden brown, and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean.

Allow to cool before slicing, but this pie is best served warm, so heat slices for 20 seconds in the microwave before serving.

Creme Fraiche Ice Cream

2 cups heavy cream
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
3/4 cup sugar
6 large egg yolks
1 cup crème fraîche (can sub sour cream with great results)

Place cream in heavy large saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add bean. Bring to boil. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 15 minutes.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and yolks in large bowl until thick and pale yellow, about 4 minutes. Gradually beat in warm cream mixture. Return mixture to saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on spoon when finger is drawn across, about 6 minutes (do not boil). Remove from heat. Cool 15 minutes. Discard vanilla bean. Whisk in crème fraîche. Cover and chill custard until cold, about 3 hours.

Process custard in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer ice cream to covered container. Freeze until firm.

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I'll Have a Blue(berry) Christmas Pie, Without You...

Recently the food blogosphere has been swarming with wacky pies created for a monthly event called You Want Pies With That? Each month has a different theme, and the challenge is to create an original pie that somehow plays on that theme. I hardly ever make pies for myself, since I'm more of a cake girl, but it seems like a fun idea, and since it is Pie Season, I've decided to join. This month's theme is Holiday Songs, so I took my inspiration from the Elvis classic "Blue Christmas" and made a Blue(berry) Christmas Pie.

I'll have a blue Christmas without you
I'll be so blue just thinking about you...
And when those blue snowflakes start falling
That's when those blue memories start calling
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white
But I'll have a blue, blue blue blue Christmas.

Obviously, with "Blue Christmas" as my inspiration, this pie had to be seriously blue. I decided to make a miniature pie (because there's only...sob...one person to eat it!) with alternating layers of cream cheese ice cream and blueberry ice cream (feeling the cold freeze of loneliness!) and topped by a mound of fresh blue, blue, blue blueberries.
I began with a graham cracker crust, made with cinnamon graham crackers. (I think gingersnaps would also be awesome with this pie.) I then made two batches of ice cream--one from cream cheese with just a hint of lemon, and one from fresh blueberries. I mixed a bit of the two together to form a light blue (well, purplish) colored cream so that I had three ice cream bases total. A short while later (ha!), after all three were churned, I got to work layering my ice creams in the prebaked shell. I had a vision of perfectly even, uniform layers, but that didn't quite work out. The effect was still striking, though, and oh-so-blue.

The melting ice cream makes it look like the pie is crying! Poor blue pie.

Since this pie took awhile to put together, I had high expectations, and it did not disappoint. The ice creams turned out beautifully creamy but not too heavy, the lightly spiced crust added a nice crunch while not being too thick, and the juicy blueberries on top added great flavor and cut the richness of the ice cream. Obviously this pie might not fit into some Christmas celebrations, but here in LA it's still beastly hot, so it seemed perfectly seasonal.

This is also my entry to this month's Sugar High Friday event. This month it's being hosted by Susan of The Well-Seasoned Cook, and the theme is All That Glitters. Looking at that mound of glistening berries atop the pie, I couldn't think of a more appropriate entry. The recipe is right after the jump...


Blueberry Ice Cream Pie
Yield: 1 deep-dish 7" tart, with a little ice cream left over

Crust
18 graham crackers
1/3 cup sugar
1 stick butter, melted

Place the graham crackers in a food processor with the sugar and process until fine crumbs. Pour into a large bowl and pour the melted butter on top, mixing with your hands until the mixture has the consistency of wet sand and holds its shape when you grip it between your palms. Spray a tart pan with a removable bottom with cooking spray, and press the crust into the pan in a medium-thick layer. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven and bake for 8 minutes, allow to cool completely. Can be made ahead of time.

Blueberry Ice Cream
1.5 cups fresh blueberries
1/2 cup sugar
pinch salt
3/4 cup milk
1-1/8 cups heavy cream

In a saucepan bring blueberries, sugar, and salt to a boil over moderate heat, mashing berries and stirring with a fork. Simmer mixture, stirring frequently, 5 minutes and cool slightly. In a blender purée mixture with milk just until smooth and stir in cream. Pour purée through a sieve into a bowl, pressing on solids with back of a spoon. Chill mixture, covered, at least 2 hours, or until cold, and up to 1 day. Freeze mixture in an ice-cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

Cream Cheese Ice Cream
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 cup milk
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
3/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup heavy cream

Blend cream cheese, milk, lemon juice, sugar, and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a bowl, then stir in cream. Freeze cream cheese mixture in ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. Let ice cream soften 5 minutes before serving.

Pie Assembly
You want all of your ice cream to be about the same consistency: soft enough to spread, but firm enough that it won't liquefy and run into all the other layers. I found it easiest to work with ice cream that was freshly made and then stuck in the freezer for about 20-30 minutes. If it seemed too hard, I worked it with my hands for a few seconds to get it soft enough. Basically just spoon a small amount of cream cheese ice cream in the bottom of the prebaked shell and spread it in an even layer with a small offset spatula. If it seems firm enough, you can continue layering on top right away, or freeze it for 10-15 minutes and then repeat the layering until you have reached the top of the shell. I had about 1 cup of ice cream left over, your results may vary with the size of your shell. Freeze until completely solid, at least 3 hours.

Top the pie with 2 pints fresh blueberries. If you desire, you can glaze them with an apricot glaze or add fresh or candied lemon zest on top.

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Chocolate-Chile Souffles with Cardamom Creme Anglaise

When I read on Anita's blog that this month's Sugar High Friday theme is Spices, I immediately knew I wanted to make a cardamom dessert. Cardamom is an underutilized spice in my kitchen--I love the flavor, but I rarely make desserts that can showcase its unique, exotic flavor. I considering pairing it with fruit like pears or plums, but in the end I returned to my one true love: chocolate. But not just plain chocolate, of course.

I made deep, dark chocolate souffles with a hint of spice from cayenne pepper, and served them with silky smooth, vanilla-specked cardamom creme anglaise.
The former teacher's pet in me wants to point out that that's two spices, and four major flavors, going on in one small souffle cup. But don't worry--everybody plays nicely together. The chile isn't overwhelming, just a mild burn in the back of the throat that appears as the bittersweet chocolate melts from the tongue. The heat is cooled by the fragrant vanilla and cardamom creme anglaise, which is just sweet enough to balance the dark chocolate, but not too cloying.

A note on cardamom: If you've only ever baked with cardamom powder, I encourage you to track down some green cardamom pods and experiment with the real thing. (And if you've never baked with cardamom at all, what are you waiting for?! Go! Shoo! It's like if cinnamon, vanilla, and chinese five spice powder had a baby! You won't regret it.) The flavor that comes from steeping the cream with the crushed pods is unlike anything you can get from a dry powder. It pairs wonderfully well with chocolate, fruit, nuts, and vanilla.

But back to the dessert. I know what you're thinking: souffles and creme anglaise. Sounds fancypants, so it's probably one of those dishes that takes a million years and ends up being underwhelming, right? Absolutely not! I think souffles have gotten a bad rap as being "difficult," when they're really not much different from making a mousse or chiffon cake. This particular souffle is made from a cooked chocolate base that can be prepared a day or two ahead of time, so when you're ready for dessert, you simply whip your whites, fold them in, and pop these babies in the oven.

Of course, the souffles do start to deflate soon after they leave the toasty oven (and I could spend plenty of time whining about how hard it is to photograph them in the magic 2-minute window before they're sad shells of their former puffy glory...) but that's part of their beauty. Few things can compare with a souffle warm from the oven, with a crackling top that is pierced to expose a moist, mousse-like interior, the whole thing drenched with a pool of warm spiced creme anglaise.

Ready to begin your own souffle experiments? Recipes and more pics after the jump! And if you're craving spiced desserts now, the Sugar High Friday deadline isn't until next Monday, so you have the whole weekend to go crazy with the spice cupboard.


Chocolate-Chile Souffles
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
1 teaspoon unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4-1/2 tsp (to taste) cayenne powder
3/4 cup whole milk
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 large egg yolks
5 large egg whites
1/4 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

Place chocolate and butter in medium bowl. Whisk 1/4 cup sugar, flour, cayenne powder, and cocoa powder in small bowl. Bring milk and vanilla to boil in heavy small saucepan. Gradually whisk hot milk mixture into sugar mixture to blend. Return mixture to same saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until thick paste forms, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes. Scrape mixture into bowl with chocolate and butter; stir until chocolate is melted (mixture may look curdled). Add egg yolks and whisk until mixture looks shiny and creamy. (Soufflé base can be prepared 1 day ahead. Press plastic wrap directly onto surface and refrigerate. Bring soufflé base to room temperature before continuing.)

Butter eight 3/4-cup soufflé dishes or custard cups; dust with sugar. Using electric mixer, beat egg whites until frothy. With mixer running, gradually add 3 tablespoons sugar, then salt; beat just until soft peaks form. Fold 1/3 of whites into soufflé base until well combined. Gently fold in remaining egg whites just to blend (some white streaks may remain). Divide batter among prepared dishes. Place dishes on rimmed baking sheet. (Can be prepared 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.)

Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake soufflés until puffed above rim of dish, tops are flat, and edges are set, about 12 minutes. Serve immediately with Cardamom Crème Anglaise.
Recipe Source


Cardamom Creme Anglaise
Yield: 2 cups


2 tablespoons whole green cardamom pods, crushed
1 cup whole milk
1 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1/4 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
4 large egg yolks

Place cardamom pods with seeds in heavy medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until pods brown, about 5 minutes. Add milk, cream, and 1/4 cup sugar. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean into pan; add bean. Bring mixture to boil. Whisk egg yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in medium bowl. Gradually whisk in hot milk mixture. Return mixture to same saucepan. Stir over medium-low heat until custard thickens and leaves path on back of spoon when finger is drawn across, stirring constantly, about 2 minutes (do not boil). Cover and chill until cold, about 3 hours. Strain into medium pitcher. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)
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Fruit, Meet Chocolate: Apricot Ice Cream Tartufi

I'm a fool for many things: puppies with floppy ears. Rainstorms. Desserts of all shapes and sizes. Cookbooks with pretty pictures. Blog events that motivate me to bake things I wouldn't otherwise. My life is tragically low on both puppies and rain right now, but I did have the good fortune to buy three great new dessert cookbooks last week, and I've been dying to dive in and make some new sweets. So imagine my delight when I found that Meeta from What's for Lunch Honey was hosting a monthly mingle with a "Fruit & Chocolate" theme.

Perfect! One of the books I recently bought was David Lebovitz's Ripe for Dessert, a cookbook full of delicious fruity dessert recipes. I browsed through it, looking for those that combined fruit with chocolate. (Answer: almost all of them! I knew I liked this book.) Finally I settled on a recipe for Apricot Ice Cream Tartufi, because I knew I had several pounds of dried apricots languishing in the back of my cupboard.

...well, maybe calling them "apricots" is being too generous. By the time I pulled their blackened, shriveled forms from the back of the cupboard, the only clue that they were apricots came from the label on the bag. I took my life in my hands and tasted one, and it actually wasn't terrible, but it wasn't great, either. I would describe it as "highly fermented with a dash of decay."

Actually, this entire post is brought to you by the letter F, for Food Poisoning. Shortly after discovering my apricots were way, waaay past their prime, I opened a new jar of homemade apricot jam, only to find sketchy growths on the lid and in the jam itself. And the seal wasn't even broken! So my brilliant plan to create a dessert out of ingredients I had readily available backfired most horribly, and I made a last-minute trip to the store. At least it beat the projectile vomiting that would have resulted from using the suspect fruit and jam.

But enough about vomit, let's talk about my Apricot Ice Cream Tartufi! Tartu-what, you ask? Apparently "tartufi" is Italian for truffle, as these chocolate-dipped ice creams are mean to resemble truffles. They're simply balls of homemade apricot-orange ice cream, dipped in bittersweet chocolate and served with toasted hazelnuts and an apricot-orange sauce.

I was surprised at how good these are. I like apricots but I don't love them (for evidence, refer again to the neglected wizened apricot corpses in my kitchen) and I wasn't expecting too much from a dessert made from dried fruit. However, the apricot flavor really popped! They were vibrant and fruity, and although the ice cream had plenty of cream, it wasn't too heavy. The fruit flavor (and accompanying sauce) really helped to cut the richness.

I also liked that this dessert is a great hybrid of down-home cooking (simple ice cream made from dried fruit) and gourmet tastes and presentation. It can be made ahead of time and then brought out of the freezer to wow your dinner guests with fancy-pantsiness. It's also a nice amount of dessert--enough to satisfy you, not enough to have you moaning in a sticky pile of melted ice cream, cursing your lack of restraint. The chocolate shell is a pretty effective binge-preventing force field!

I realize the concept of dipping balls of ice cream in chocolate isn't novel, but for some reason it really hadn't occurred to me that I could easily do it at home. I'm excited to try this technique with other types of ice cream--I imagine it would be amazing with chocolate-raspberry, or mint chip.

I had a great time making these, and I also experimented with leftover ice cream and made some killer ice cream sandwiches--recipe to be later revealed this week. Recipe after the cut!

Apricot Ice Cream Tartufi
adapted from Ripe for Dessert by David Lebovitz

For the Ice Cream:
3/4 cup orange juice (or dry white wine)
1.5 tbsp plus 3/4 cup sugar
6 ounces dried California apricots*, cut into small pieces
1 cup milk
2 cups heavy cream, divided
5 large egg yolks
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1.25 lbs bittersweet chocolate


For the Apricot Sauce:
2.25 cups orange juice
2 tbsp sugar
3 ounces dried California apricots*
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used hazelnuts, DL recommends pistachios)

For the ice cream:

Bring the orange juice and 1.5 tbsp granulated sugar to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once it boils, remove it from the heat and add the apricots. Allow them to sit for 20 minutes until they are very soft. Once softened, puree them in a food processor or blender and set aside.

Combine the milk, 1 cup of cream, and remaining 3/4 cup of sugar in a medium saucepan. Place the egg yolks in a small bowl nearby and whisk them. Place the remaining 1 cup of cream in a large bowl with a strainer over it.

Bring the milk/cream mixture to a simmer over medium heat, but do not let it boil. Slowly pour one cup of the hot milk mixture into the yolks, whisking the entire time. Now begin whisking the milk in the saucepan, and slowly stream the egg yolks back into the saucepan, stirring constantly. Stir and cook until the custard coats the back of a spoon. (I usually use a thermometer and cook it to 175.) Pour the hot custard through the strainer into the remaining cup of cream. Whisk in the vanilla extract and the pureed apricots. Cover the top of the custard with cling wrap and chill it until it is very cold.

Freeze the ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. At this point you can chill it overnight, until very firm (DL recommends) or do my shortcut method: cover a baking sheet with cling wrap or foil. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop balls of ice cream and place them on the baking sheet. Freeze for one hour, then use the scoop and your hands to re-shape them until they're nice and round. Freeze them for another hour, until they are very firm.

Carefully melt the chocolate over a double-boiler or in the microwave, stirring until it's very fluid but not too hot. (I added a few spoonfuls of oil to thin it out.) At this point you can dip them by submerging them entirely in the chocolate, being careful not to let the ice cream melt into the chocolate, or it will seize. Instead of this (potentially risky) method, I did a two-part dip: first I skewered the balls with toothpicks on either side, and dipped the bottoms in the chocolate, just about 1/4 inch up. Returned them to the baking sheet, and froze them briefly. Then I balanced them on their chocolate bottom on a spatula and spooned the chocolate over the top, so that there was less risk of the ice cream getting into the chocolate. They were pretty well frozen, so maybe it was a moot point--but my method worked fine, and didn't take too long. While the chocolate is still wet, sprinkle the top with some chopped nuts. Return to the freezer to set the chocolate for about 20 minutes.

To make the sauce:

Bring the orange juice and the sugar to a boil, then remove it from the heat and add the apricot pieces. Let them soak for 20 minutes, or until very tender. Puree in a blender with the vanilla extract.

*David Lebovitz recommends using California apricots, as the imported varieties are overly sweetened. I found California apricots in a one-pound bag at Trader Joe's.

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