The second dessert I made for Thanksgiving was an upside-down-apple-pecan pie, which was a breeze to make and, more importantly, a pleasure to eat.

I know that every time I try to make a pie with pastry on the top, it ends up tasting fine, but looking a bit like a disaster. I’m definitely not one of those people that can make food look pretty. This pie takes away that challenge though, as it’s baked like a regular pie, but once it comes out of the oven, it’s flipped upside down. Because of all the sugar, butter and pecans you put on the bottom of the pie plate, a caramelized syrup of buttery, candied pecans covers the whole thing. Inside, there’s a thick layer of spiced apples, which cuts the sweetness of the crunchy and gooey topping.

The recipe asks for refrigerated pie crusts, which I used (and enjoyed just fine!), but I’m sure you could use your own homemade crust if you prefer. I liked how easy it was just to pop a piece shell into the plate and then another shell right on top, so I do recommend using that method, unless you’re a vehement homemade crust lover.

This is a great variation on the typical apple pie, and that pecan topping is magical. Oh, and definitely serve this thing warm!

Upside-Down Apple Pecan Pie
adapted from The Cutting Edge of Ordinary
Printable Recipe

6 tablespoons butter, melted & divided
½ cup packed light brown sugar
¾ cup chopped pecans
2 refrigerated pie crusts
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
5 large firm apples, peeled, cored and cut into ½ inch slices

1. Preheat the oven to 375.

2. Coat a pie plate with nonstick cooking spray and line it with parchment or waxed paper. Coat the paper with cooking spray also.

3. In a small bowl combine 4 tablespoons of melted butter, the brown sugar and the pecans. Mix well and spread evenly over the bottom of the pie plate. Place one of the crusts in the pie plate, pressing it firmly against the nut mixture and up the sides of the plate. Set aside.

4. In a large bowl, combine the granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and the remaining 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Mix well. Add the apples in and toss gently to coat. Spoon into the pie crust.

5. Place the second crust over the apple mixture. Trim and fold the edges together to seal. Cut some slits in the top of the crust for venting.

6. Position a cookie sheet on the bottom oven rack to catch any juices that may leak from the pie while it’s baking. Bake 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until crust is golden brown. (Watch the baking time; I made two of these pies, and the first one almost had a topping of burnt pecans!)

7. To invert the pie, please a plate on top of the pie, and flip it over. Remove the pie plate then gently lift the paper. Serve while still warm, or reheat gently when it’s time to serve it.

I was put in charge of baking one of the desserts for the family’s Thanksgiving dinner, so obviously, I used this as an excuse to bake my favourite pie ever – the pecan pie. Amazingly sweet, rich and packed with pecans, I can never say no to a slice of pecan pie.

I had never made a pecan pie, so I didn’t have a favourite recipe for it on hand. So when in doubt, I always know I can trust Dorie Greenspan. She has a recipe for her favourite pecan pie in her book Baking: From My Home to Yours, so that’s what I used.

As usual, it was a perfect choice! Her recipe is different from the standard pecan pie in that it has chocolate chunks in it and is nicely flavoured with cinnamon. I loved these variations – the cinnamon really stands out and combines perfectly with the sweetness, as well as with the chocolate and pecans. The consistency was perfect. The taste was perfect. This is absolutely a “favourite” pecan pie.

She recommends a pie crust recipe, but since I was short on time and ingredients, I went *gasp* the crust mix route. I know my own homemade crust would’ve been better, but if a pie can still be delicious with a store-bought one, then you know you have a winner.

Chocolate Pecan Pie
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

3/4 cup light corn syrup (I used 1 cup)
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
2 teaspoons instant espresso powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (about 7 ounces) pecan halves or pieces
3 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
1 9-inch single crust made with Good for Almost Everything Dough, partially baked and cooled (I used a mix for pie crust)

1. Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the corn syrup and brown sugar together until smooth.. Whisk in the melted butter, then add the eggs one at a time, beating until you have a smooth, foamy mixture. Add the espresso powder, vanilla, cinnamon and salt and give the batter a good mix. Rap the bowl against the counter a couple of times to pop any bubbles that might have formed, then stir in the pecans and chocolate. Turn the filling into the crust.

3. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make a foil shield for the crust by cutting a 9-inch circle out of the center of an 11-or 12-inch square of aluminum foil.

4. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Place the foil shield on top of the pie—the filling will be exposed, the crust covered by the foil. Bake the pie for another 15 to 20 minutes (total baking time is 30 to 35 minutes), or until it has puffed (the middle and the edges should be fairly evenly puffed), is beautifully browned and no longer jiggles when tapped. Transfer the pie plate to a rack, remove the shield and cool to room temperature.

Serving: Pecan pie is good at any temperature, and different at each one. It’s softest and most puddingish eaten warm (about 45 minutes out of the oven), most flavorful eaten at room temperature and most candy-like when it is chilled. At any temperature, it’s good with ice cream—vanilla, chocolate or coffee would be my choices.

Storing: Once cooled to room temperature, the pie can be covered and refrigerated for 1 day.

Playing Around: If all you want is a great plain pecan pie, omit the cinnamon, espresso and chocolate. If you want a sweeter pie, increase the amount of corn syrup to 1 cup.

I recently had to make a dessert that didn’t contain any gluten. There are lots of gluten-free recipes out there, but most of the time, they call for some gluten-free concoction of rice flours, and seeing as I’m not all that interested in investing the time or energy to finding and mixing up these flours, it was easier for me to just come up with a flourless dessert.

Or so I thought. Everything contains flour!

After picking my brain and cookbooks for a long time, I finally came up with the idea of a pie in a coconut crust. I figured a coconut crust probably couldn’t withstand a long baking time, pies like pecan were out. I needed a cold pie, something that would go well with coconut…so out came Baking: From My Home to Yours, and I prepared the lemon filling for The Most Extraordinary French Lemon Cream Tart. Lemon cream and coconut – how could it go wrong?

It was great. The coconut crust was very easy to prepare, and it tasted exactly like a macaroon, very sweet and delicious. I patted it down in an ungreased pie plate, baked it for about 20 minutes, and it came out perfectly browned and it held together very nicely.

The lemon filling was absolutely stunning though. The work it took was unbelievable though, and so I don’t know if I would be willing to put forth the effort again. I created a double boiler out of a pot and a bowl, and whisking the lemon cream for (at least) twenty minutes, while the bowl slipped around, while trying to hold a candy thermometer in there, proved to be more trouble than it was worth.

But the taste is fantastic! Not as rich as one would think, very light, tart and lemony. I found the textures between the filling and the coconut crust to be a little off, but their tastes complimented each other perfectly. I halved strawberries and circled the pie with them, and they added a great touch – I wouldn’t want to eat the pie without them. I was able to make two 9″ pies from the lemon cream recipe.

Overall, a great dessert! Perfect for these summer days!

Lemon Cream Pie with Coconut Crust

COCONUT CRUST
1 1/2 cups flaked sweetened coconut
3 tablespoons butter
1 egg white

1. Mix all three ingredients together.
2. Press mixture firmly into a 9″ pie plate
3. Bake for about 20 minutes at 325 degrees F

LEMON CREAM
adapted from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking: From My Home to Yours

1 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 3 lemons
4 large eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons)
2 sticks plus 5 tablespoons (10-1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon-size pieces, at room temperature

Getting Ready: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer and a blender (first choice) or food processor at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

1. Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together between your fingers until the sugar is moist, grainy and very aromatic. Whisk in the eggs, followed by the lemon juice.

2. Set the bowl over the pan, and start stirring with the whisk as soon as the mixture feels tepid to the touch. Cook the lemon cream until it reaches 180 degrees F. As you whisk—you must whisk constantly to keep the eggs from scrambling—you’ll see that the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. Heads up at this point—the tracks mean the cream is almost ready. Don’t stop whisking or checking the temperature, and have patience—depending on how much heat you’re giving the cream, getting to temp can take as long as 10 minutes.

3. As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain it into the container of the blender (or food processor); discard the zest. Let the cream stand, stirring occasionally, until it cools to 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

4. Turn the blender to high (or turn on the processor) and, with the machine going, add the butter about 5 pieces at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container as needed as you incorporate the butter. Once the butter is in, keep the machine going—to get the perfect light, airy texture of lemon-cream dreams, you must continue to blend the cream for another 3 minutes. If your machine protests and gets a bit too hot, work in 1-minute intervals, giving the machine a little rest between beats.

5. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface to create an airtight seal and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. (The cream will keep in the fridge for 4 days and, or tightly sealed, in the freezer for up to 2 months; thaw it overnight in the refrigerator.)

6. When you are ready to assemble the tart, just whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon it into the tart shell. Serve the tart, or refrigerate until needed.