Mini Pies and Pie Pops

I’m having guests over tomorrow to play video games, and what’s best on the side but pie? I’ve been wanting to make pie pops for the longest time. The only pie I knew how to make before this was apple pie. For instance, I never really knew what went inside of a lemon meringue pie. I had total jackass theory behind it. Where I borrow the terminology is from last week’s This American Life episode, A Little Bit of Knowledge. The jackass theory is when you know a little bit about something. Like, carbs are bad. But you don’t exactly know why carbs are bad. Yet you still have this vivid image that carbs will make you fat and die. So you jackass theory your way through life til someone calls you out on it.

This is me and pie but opposite. Pie is just wonderful and sometimes I don’t know why or what makes it so wonderful.

I have my own secret recipe for apple pie. Same with the dough I made, which is my father’s special dough. But here is a recipe equally delicious:

Jillian brought over Graham cracker pie shells. It is the best paired with the pumpkin pie we made.

Graham Cracker Pie Shell

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs 1/3 cup white sugar

6 tablespoons butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)

1.	Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, melted butter or margarine, and cinnamon until well blended . Press mixture into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.
2.	Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 7 minutes. Cool. If recipe calls for unbaked pie shell, just chill for about 1 hour.

Pie Pop Dough

Originally the empanada dough mentioned in Filipino Cooking Made Easy, by my father, Joe DLS. He gave me a modification, but this is equally good:

3 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tbsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1/4 cup oil
1/2 cup cold water

1. Mix all dry ingredients together.
2. Work all butter into the flour mix
3. Beat the egg, oil and water and mix until dough becomes elastic
4. Flatten dough on a flour dusted workspace
5. Cut out circles for pie pies
6. Place filling inside
7. Pleat the edges with a lollipop stick
8. Bake for 12 minutes
9. Wait for it to cool then place lollipop stick inside

 

APPLE PIE FILLING:

Since I made pie pops, I only used one granny smith apple. Do the following:

1) Peel one granny smith apple and put in a small bowl. Make sure to cut apple according to pie size. For the pie pops, we cut it very small.
2) Put 1/2 cup white sugar into the bowl
3) Put 1 tbsp brown sugar and 1 tbsp of cinnamon into the bowl
4) Pinch of Salt into the bowl
5) Put 1/4 cup cornstarch into the bowl
6) Optional: Put some lemon juice, but I find the sugar/salt keeps the apples pretty good.
7) Mix apples in this sauce

Meringue!

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup white sugar 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 3 tablespoons cornstarch 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 1/2 cups water 2 lemons, juiced and zested

2 tablespoons butter 4 egg yolks, beaten 1 (9 inch) pie crust, baked 4 egg whites 6 tablespoons white sugar

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2.	To Make Lemon Filling: In a medium saucepan, whisk together 1 cup sugar, flour, cornstarch, and salt. Stir in water, lemon juice and lemon zest. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture comes to a boil. Stir in butter. Place egg yolks in a small bowl and gradually whisk in 1/2 cup of hot sugar mixture. Whisk egg yolk mixture back into remaining sugar mixture. Bring to a boil and continue to cook while stirring constantly until thick. Remove from heat. Pour filling into baked pastry shell.
3.	To Make Meringue: In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until foamy. Add sugar gradually, and continue to whip until stiff peaks form. Spread meringue over pie, sealing the edges at the crust.
4.	Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes, or until meringue is golden brown.

The meringue was difficult to do by hand, so we ended up with a denser meringue.

Then Jillian came over and we made pie pops!

She merely brought a can of cherry sauce and we popped it in without much modifications. What you do is you make whatever dough you’d like, cut it into circles and put a pinch of filling and pleat the edges. You put the lollipop stick in once you’re done baking because of course, they will burn. Jillian was behind our magnificent pumpkin pie. It is the best of the pies we made.

Pumpkin Pie Filling:

• 1-3/4 cups (425 mL) pumpkin puree
• 1 cup (250 mL) packed brown sugar
• 3/4 cup (175 mL) evaporated milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp (2 mL) nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt

I think they’ll be pleased tomorrow.