Cherry Hand Pies

Do you remember your favorite childhood treat?  Mine was Hostess Cherry Pies.  Cloyingly sweet cherry pie filling encased in a lackluster pastry shell coated with a cavity-inducing glaze of white icing.  To think of eating one now does absolutely nothing for me, but the 10 year old version of me would slap me right across the face for such condescension.

It was my favorite of all the pies we had growing up, and believe me, there was no shortage.  On holidays there was the obligatory pumpkin, but once in awhile we were allowed to weigh in on this topic and when the opportunity presented itself, I always chimed in "CHERRY"!
(as I got older, and still to this day... it is peach)

Whenever stone fruit season rolls around, I, like most people, buy pounds of cherries, peaches, plums and nectarines...  and then am in a frenzy to use them up before they go bad.   It's like my Mom has always told me "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach".  I guess they still are. 

So, I find myself with a few pounds of cherries and I had a flashback to walking into Floyd's.
It was a little store on the walk home from school, almost more of a lean-to it was so small.

There was a creaky, old, wooden screen door that would slap shut with a "thwack" every time you walked in, paint barely clinging to it.
The floors resembled a patchwork quilt, tiles being replaced as needed, never all at once.
The cooler near the front hummed loudly as the compressor kicked on and off,  a reminder of where he kept the frozen treats.
Rows of cans and boxes lined up, fluorescent lighting sputtering and buzzing above me.  Being greeted by a gentle smile, always a smile.  My grandmother knew him and therefore, he knew us.  I remember buying bazooka gum for a nickel in that little store.  And Hostess cherry pies.

These portable packages would also be a perfect addition to a picnic basket or say a 4th of July gathering?   Just stack them up on a plate and let people help themselves.  No need for utensils, plates or clean-up, which in my opinion is the best thing about these.  They are little pockets of goodness.

Cherry Hand Pies
makes 18 -20 pies

For the Crust:
(crust recipe from Smitten Kitchen, just barely fussed with)

3 3/4 cups (470 grams) all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon fresh lemon zest
1 1/2  tablespoons granulated sugar
1 1/2  teaspoons fine sea salt
12 ounces unsalted butter, very cold and cut into small pieces
3/4 to 1 cup buttermilk

Whisk together flour, zest, sugar and salt in the bottom of a large bowl. Using a pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour until the biggest pieces of butter are the size of tiny peas. 
Gently stir in 3/4 cup buttermilk with a rubber spatula, mixing it until a bit of a mass forms, then knead it two or three times to form a ball.
If it doesn’t come together, add remaining 1/4 cup buttermilk, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it does, then gently knead again. (I had to add all of the remaining 1/4 cup)
Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and flatten into a disc. Chill in fridge for at least an hour or up to two days.  (Life got in the way & mine was in there for 3 days... It was fine)

Egg Wash:
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water.  If you want to dust the top with sugar, you will also need sanding sugar or any coarse sugar.
-prepare egg wash, get out the pastry brush & set aside.

Cherry Filling:

3 cups pitted cherries, roughly chopped (about 1 1/2 pounds whole cherries)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch

juice of half a lemon

Combine the cherries, sugar and salt in a medium pot over medium heat.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sugar dissolves.

Increase heat slightly to bring to a simmer for 5 more minutes. 

In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in a few teaspoons of the cherry juice from the pot and stir until smooth.

Pour the cornstarch mixture back into the pot and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened (about 6 to 8 more minutes). Turn off heat and add lemon juice.  Stir to combine.

Transfer to a non-metal bowl and allow to cool.

Assembly line:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Generously flour the counter top, then unwrap one of your disks of dough.  Gently begin rolling it out, starting from the center and pushing outward.  The dough will be pretty firm when you begin, so be patient, but it will warm quickly, so not too patient!

Keep rolling from the center out, turning the dough as you go, until it is about 1/8 inch thick.  If the butter in the dough begins to get too warm and it starts to stick to the pin or gets goopy, slide it onto a baking sheet and put it in the freezer for a few minutes to firm up again.

Once dough is rolled out, cut out with a 2 1/2 - 3 inch cutter, whatever shape you have, or use a knife and cut into squares.  I only had a round cutter of the appropriate size, so that's what I used.

Lightly brush half of your circles or squares with the egg wash, taking care to get the edges, cut vents in the center of the other half of your circles/squares.  Place 1 rounded teaspoon of filling in the center of the egg washed halves and top with the vented pieces. (don't overfill!)  Seal with your fingertips or press with a fork along the edges.

Brush with the egg wash on top and sprinkle with coarse sugar.  Chill in refrigerator before baking if dough begins to get mushy.  Repeat with remaining disk of dough, filling, etc.

Place on baking sheet 1 - 2 inches apart and bake for 15 - 18 minutes until golden and puffed.

Eat. Repeat.

Key Lime Pie

Key Lime Pie.   These three little words make me sit on the edge of my seat in anticipation.  In my book, it is one of the most perfect desserts.  The fact that it is ridiculously easy gives it major bonus points. 
Growing up, I don't think I'd even heard of key lime pie.  We had apple, peach, strawberry-rhubarb, blueberry, pecan, pumpkin, lemon meringue, chocolate cream, but never key lime. 

Perhaps that is why I have developed a serious love for this barely green, barely sweet little tart.
We weren't introduced until I was able to have a proper appreciation for something so perfect in its simplicity.
My insatiable sweet tooth has been discussed on several occasions right here on this very blog and although I won't deny that I love dessert, what I do not love is desserts that are cloying.

That makes this pie the perfect sweet for me.  It is creamy and smooth,  just barely sweet with a nice tart bite that gets you right on the sides of your tongue making you immediately go back for more (or maybe that's only me).
The graham cracker crust harkens back to pre-school with it's sweet smell that makes one long for mandatory nap time.


Key Lime Tart
recipe barely adapted from America's Test Kitchen

I wouldn't dare suggest that you only make this pie with actual key limes, as most of you probably don't have access to them.  I made this filling with regular (Persian) limes and their zest.  I also tried bottled key lime juice, but preferred the juice of fresh limes for their bright, citrusy flavor.

Normally, the filling for this pie is not cooked and it sets up in the refrigerator.  I'm sure those of you that have ordered (or even made) key lime pie have found yourselves a bit disappointed on occasion.  Although the filling is set enough to slice, it can be a bit too loose.  After reading dozens of recipes, I found a solution: 
a short stint in the oven to set the filling resulted in a creamy, custard-like filling that set beautifully and sliced perfectly clean. 

-This recipe will make a 9" pie or 4 tarts (4 1/2" size)


For the filling:
4 large egg yolks
1 heaping tbsp. grated lime zest
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 5 - 6 limes)
1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
tiny pinch salt

Whisk egg yolks and lime zest together in a medium bowl.

After 1 1/2 - 2 minutes, your mixture should look like this.  Bright yellow - green from the lime zest.  No need for green food coloring!

Whisk in condensed milk until mixture is smooth, then whisk in lime juice.  Cover and set aside.

Now make the crust...


For the Crust
8 graham crackers, broken into pieces
5 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3 tbsp. sugar
pinch salt

Preheat oven to 325.   Put graham crackers in food processor and run for about 45 seconds until you have fine crumbs.   Pour melted butter over crumbs, add sugar & salt and pulse (5 -7 times should do) until you have what resembles wet sand.

Pour crumbs into pie plate, (or if using tart molds: 1/4 - 1/3 cup in each) pressing crumbs into an even layer on bottom and sides. 
Using the bottom of measuring cup makes this task much easier!
Bake crust for 13 - 16 minutes (tarts: approx. 12 minutes); remove from oven and set on wire rack. 
Do not turn off oven.

Pour filling into warm pie crust and bake 15 - 18 minutes (tarts: 10 - 12 minutes).  Remove from oven and let them cool for about an hour before refrigerating. 
Once cooled, place in refrigerator for 2 - 3 hours until chilled and set.

Top with whipped cream.

Plum Crazy...

Maybe it's just me, but it seems like every year summer goes by even quicker than it did the year before. 
I wait and wait all winter for stone fruit season to arrive,  daydreaming about all of the amazing things I'll make...  fantasizing about juicy peaches, ripe plums and perfect nectarines. 

Awaiting that first taste of summer, sinking my teeth into the perfect bite, juice dribbling down my chin... 
and then it's August.

When did that happen?!   I realize I barely had a chance to make any of the delectable things I spent so many hours, days, weeks thinking about.  And here we are again, summer more than halfway gone.
So, upon this rather startling revelation I decided I had better get it in gear if I was going to accomplish at least a few of the things I had set out to do.

For those of you who may not know, a crostata is a single-crust, free-form pie.  This is good news for the likes of me as I find rolling out multiple pie crusts in the heat of August a nearly impossible feat. 
If I had central air-conditioning and a marble slab in my kitchen, I'd be much more agreeable.



Plum Crostata

for the dough:

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (plus extra for dusting)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick butter (not margarine) cubed into small pieces & chilled
• zest of one lemon
• 3 tbsp ice water

In the bowl of a food processor,  pulse together dry ingredients until well combined.   Add in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.  I usually keep my butter in the freezer for this so it stays really cold as it is being incorporated.   Add in ice water, pulsing machine until it almost forms a ball.  Do not over work dough.  Remove from food processor and flatten into a disk.  Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.   You can do this a day ahead.


for the filling:

• 6 ripe plums, sliced 1/4" thick ( I used red & black plums)
• zest of 1 lemon
• juice of 1/2 lemon (or 1 whole, if small)
• 5 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp flour 

Mix all ingredients together and set aside.


for glaze:
1 egg
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp sanding sugar



assemble crostata:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Remove dough from refrigerator and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and lightly floured.  Press out the dough until it is approximately 11 inches in diameter. 

You can roll it out with a pin if you like but I chose to just press it out.  My kitchen was very warm and the dough was getting a little too soft, as the butter in the dough was beginning to melt so I had to go with it.  I had already put it back in the refrigerator once...  It was just too warm of a day (lesson learned). 

Place fruit in center and bring up edges of dough to the center, pleating dough as you go.  If you really want to impress, lay fruit in a circular pattern and then fold dough over.  If dough breaks, don't sweat it...  just pinch it back together.  It's supposed to be "rustic", right? 
Well, mine certainly was! 
(The crust didn't hold in a few spots,  let's just say that gave it "personality")

Brush crust with honey/egg mixture and sprinkle sanding sugar on crust.
Bake for 20 - 30 minutes until crust is golden brown and fruit is bubbling.

A scoop of vanilla ice cream on this would be divine...  just sayin'



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