Surgical Pie

How is one tablespoon of water not the same as one tablespoon of water!? Up until this week, I've been using measuring spoons for salt, sugar, spice, and water. I switched over to an actual tablespoon this week for water, and there was much less water than a measured tablespoon. I'm outraged! As of result, I had the hardest time rolling out the dough as it cracked all over the place.

Not enough water

After the upper crust was placed

When this happens, the dough scraper becomes your best friend. Luckily, I bought one last week. Otherwise, my tears would have been all over the pie while placing the crust liner. It would have been much worse with many more cracks. Fortunately, I was making a double bottom chocolate strawberry pecan pie so the cracks were not noticeable when it was done.

I just couldn't crimp the edge like I normally would, but I was still able to brush the egg white to stick the upper and bottom crusts together.

The pie didn't shrink a whole lot compared to the last time as I let the crust relax before baking it. Between these two pies, there's about at least an inch difference in diameter. That's a lot of wasted surface area if the pie doesn't relax!

 

My last pie

I had the right amount of strawberries this time. The chocolate sauce was a little dry as I didn't continue to whisk when I took it out of the double boiler. The fact that I added a tablespoon of tapioca flour to the strawberries didn't help either.

When I made the finishing touches...

...it didn't look that bad after all.

I haven't perfected this pie yet, but it's just a matter of ensuring the chocolate doesn't get dry, and determining the right amount of chocolate and strawberries. I would also like to use bittersweet chocolate instead since it has more flavor; I've been using milk chocolate up until now. Once I've perfected it, I'll post my recipe.

For my next dessert, I won't be making a pie. It's popular among the Chinese however, its origin is not China.

Are you kidding me!?

Overloaded Cumin Chocolate

It wasn't my intent for the chocolate to taste like cumin. It just so happened that the chocolate chunks were sitting beside cumin in the cupboard, even though both items were enclosed in cheap plastic bulk bags. Unfortunately, my friends and I found that out after the Double Bottom Chocolate Strawberry Pecan Pie was made. I searched online afterward and there are recipes that include chocolate and cumin. Just when you thought two ingredients don't mix together, someone has already tried it. For me, it was more harm done.

I did, however, added a pinch of cayenne pepper to the melted chocolate which supposedly enhanced the chocolate flavor. I couldn't tell the difference. It's probably something that I should experiment.

There were a few things wrong with this pie beside the cumin chocolate:
-it was overloaded,
-the crust shrunk, and
-the glaze didn't come out as I hoped.

I added 100g of strawberries this time and it turned out to be too much. As of result, I had to melt more chocolate to compensate for the additional strawberries.

My friend showed me the double boiler method for melting chocolate. It was easier than I thought and you could taste more chocolate too. The last time I made this pie, I added boiling water to the chocolate which diluted the flavor. Combining the strawberries and chocolate however, made the pie a little runny. This is likely due to the water content of the strawberries. Fortunately, it didn't soften the crust but thickening agent is required.

I also pricked the holes with a fork instead of cutting out the steam vents. The result was much better than the last time as it didn't pent up.

Unfortunately, the crust shrunk so much which didn't help the overloading problem. This could have been due to overworking the dough when I was kneading it. I think it's because I didn't let the crust relax in the fridge after rolling it out. After I quickly rolled the pie crust out, I immediately put the pie in the oven. By leaving the crust relax, the stretched gluten eventually loses its elastic bond and thus, breaking the network between the molecules.

I didn't use any thickening agent for the glaze this time. It just didn't turn out good so I'm taking that out for my next pie.

One For The Ladies

My friend Melissa bugged me for months to make her a chocolate strawberry pie. She got overly excited when she saw this pie from The Waitress, so she had to ask her pie-obsessive friend to make one: moi. Damn you Keri Russell. I wasn't enthusiastic about it 'cause I'm not a big fan of chocolate. When I saw this however, my eyes lit up and I was inspired to make a Double Bottom Chocolate Strawberry Pecan Pie! The colours match Valentine's Day so it had to look good. Ladies, this pie's for you! Near the end before I ruined it with the strawberry glaze, the pie looked pretty much what I envisioned.

I first crushed the pecans with my rolling pin and placed them evenly on the bottom dough liner. I didn't make the dough this time as I used one of my leftovers in my freezer. There were so many in my freezer!

I then sealed the pie with another dough liner, and hence the name 'Double Bottom'. To make sure that heat isn't contained inside the pie, I cut some steam vents like I normally would on any other double crust pies. I then baked the pie.

Baked at 425°F for 25 minutes

You can see that the pie inflated during this process but I was able to push it down with my finger. I wasn't expecting it to inflate, but I guess this means that I need to prick more holes. While the pie was baking, I turned my focus to chocolate.

Bernard Callebaut is one of my favorites and luckily, you can buy them in bulk for cheap now. I've never worked with chocolate before so I was nervous. After spending a day researching on ways to melt chocolate, I decided to go with the easiest way possible: cutting it into pieces and adding boiling water.

The white stuff that you see above is just a mixture of water, sugar, and corn starch. Next, the strawberries!

After cleaning and hulling the strawberries, I cut them in different sizes: one batch had bite-size to go into the chocolate and the others were halved as they were placed at the very top of the pie. To soften these strawberries, I cooked them in a pot at low heat.

I also prepared a strawberry glaze to enhance the strawberry flavour. It took a while because I don't have a masher for the strawberries so I used a wooden spoon instead. Never again will I do that. From here on, it's just a matter of adding everything together.

Nice!

Not so nice.

In case you're wondering why there is pink puke, it's because of corn starch. It was bright red before I added the corn starch.

Finally it's over. I got my friends to try it (including Melissa) and although this pie was meant for the ladies, it was actually a bunch of dudes who ate most of it. At least Melissa got her wish.

I was surprised at how this pie turned out. Not only did it look good (minus the glaze), but it was delicious! The chocolate was sweet on its own, but the pecans help offset it. What a difference they make! The crust wasn't soggy. I just wish there was more strawberry flavour. For my next pie, I'll probably add more strawberries and cut down on the chocolate.

March 14 is a special day for us nerds and pie lovers but unfortunately, I won't be in town to celebrate. Happy Pi Day everyone!