Bake or Break

Alton Brown’s Pie Crust

Jennifer and I have a strong personal attachment to pies. Sure, it’s more the mathematical π variety, but I’m certainly not one to turn down a pretty piece of pie. Considering that the crust is literally and figuratively the foundation of a good pie, when I was tasked with making an apple pie for our Thanksgiving festivities, I naturally turned to our chief food engineer, Alton Brown. Actually, I’d seen his episode Crust Never Sleeps ages ago and have been yearning to try out his techniques ever since.

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Peanut Butter Tart

View more photos With the overwhelming love of peanut butter in my family, I consider it a wonderful challenge to find new peanut butter recipes for family to-dos. For my Daddy’s birthday, I started searching for a recipe and re-stumbled upon this recipe from Martha Stewart. It’s a lovely combination of graham cracker crust, chocolate [...]

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Raspberry Almond Tarts

I like putting together little food gifts for the holidays. I love wrapping up something delicious from the kitchen and giving it to people. Finding new things to put in those gifts is half the fun to me. I love those bite-size sweets. So, when I found this Southern Living recipe, I added it to [...]

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Pecan Pie

View more photos Now, I know that very recently I made smaller versions of this, but in my defense I had no choice but to make a pecan pie. It was Thanksgiving. It’s tradition. I always make pecan pie. My sister asked nicely. And, this one is a bit different from those wee ones. Several [...]

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Mini Pecan Pies

Yes, more pecans. But, it is pecan season after all. I made these as a little anniversary treat for Quinn. (We celebrated 6 lovely years of marriage on Saturday.) Of all the things that I have baked over the years, these are his favorite. This works out well for me because they’re really simple to make. The recipe comes from a book I’ve had for ages, Best of the Best from Mississippi.

Before I go any further, let me just say that I am none too proud to use ready-made pie crusts. This recipe is a dream with them. For a big pie, I would most likely make my own, but for these little bite-sized ones, you can bet I’m getting Pillsbury. However, feel free to make your own.

In the South, these little pies are known as tassies. Now what that means or where it comes from, I haven’t a clue. Quinn, not being from the South, was amused the first time I called them that. I think marrying a Southern girl has been quite an experience for him. But I digress.

During the holidays, I usually make a couple of regular size pecan pies (more about that closer to Thanksgiving), but I use a different recipe for the filling. Somehow the exact ingredients for these doesn’t translate as well into a larger pie. That works the other way around, too. Could be the filling to crust ratio.

These little pies are, I must say, amazingly good. They are so light and have just the right amount of sweetness. Plus, they just look so cute on a tray or bundled up for a gift.

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Almond Pear Cream Cheese Tart

View more photos When I first saw this recipe, I thought it was a beautiful dessert. Then, I read the recipe and was shocked at how simple it sounded. I decided to try it out for myself, especially knowing how much Quinn likes pears. And, of course, how much I like cream cheese.

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