20 Sweets in 20 Weeks - #7: Banana Cream Pie

I have been dreaming of eating banana cream pie for some time now. I think I have only had it once before and that was in 2006 when I visited Hawaii (which was great fun by the way). I really think that America seems to be the place to be when it comes to pies. Australia's pie selection just seems so boring in comparison - we seem to do apple pie and lemon meringue pie and not a hell of a lot more. 

Funnily enough I actually got this recipe from an Australian cookbook and it turned out pretty well. I like the banana cream filling and of course who can complain with loads of whipped cream on top. But I did have some issues with this pie. First of all working with gelatine for me was a nightmare! It made the cream filling go incredibly lumpy and I ended up having to heat the whole cream mixture using a double boiler to get it back to a smooth consistency. For a while there I thought I would have to throw out the whole thing, there may have been some foul language at that stage. The second issue I had was the pastry, I may have over worked it, but I found it incredibly hard - when what I was after was a nice flaky crust. Other than that the pie is good, maybe even better than good - lets just say there was very little conversation at the dinner table while it was being consumed. 

 Chocolate Banana Cream Pie (adapted from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Great Dessert Cookbook)

Pastry:

90g unsalted butter, softened

1/4 cup caster sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 cups plain flour

2 tbsp ground rice (rice flour)

1/4 tsp baking powder

Filling:

30g unsalted butter

2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

2/3 cup water

1 1/4 cups milk

3 to 4 bananas (I used 3 smallish bananas)

1 tbsp gelatine
2 eggs
2/3 cup cream
dark chocolate (approximately 150g)
lemon juice
extra whipped cream (I added a little bit of caster sugar to mine)
shaved milk chocolate, to decorate

Pastry:

1. Cream butter and sugar; add egg, beat well.
2. Sift flour, ground rice and baking powder, work into creamed mixture, knead well until smooth.
3. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Roll out pastry on floured surface to fit lightly greased 23cm pie plate. Decorate edges with trimmings, brush with water. Prick well with fork on base and round sides.
5. Bake in hot oven (375F) for approximately 15 minutes or until lightly golden (took my oven 20 minutes); cool.

Filling:

1. Combine butter, sugar and half the water in a saucepan; cook, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Cool slightly, stir in milk.
2. Soften gelatine in remaining water, dissolve over hot water; cool. Blend into milk mixture. (This is where my mixture went lumpy and gross - if this happens to you, pop the mixture into a double boiler and stir/whisk until the lumps disappear).
3. Separate eggs, add lightly beaten egg-yolks to milk mixture; allow to cool.
4. When beginning to stiffen slightly, fold in lightly whipped cream and softly beaten egg-whites. 
5. Optionally at this stage melt the dark chocolate and spread over the base of the pie case. (Looking back I would probably put a layer of ganache on the base instead of just straight chocolate).
6. Slice bananas, dip into lemon juice; reserve some slices for decoration (I didn't reserve any). Arrange remainder on base of cooked pie case.
7. Pour cream mixture over carefully; refrigerate until set.
8. Just before serving, decorate with extra whipped cream and reserved banana slices (I decorated with shaved chocolate instead).

And now for some pictures of the process. The uncooked pastry case...

Pastry case cooked and fresh out of the oven...

Cover the pastry in melted chocolate...

Top with slices of banana...

Pour over the cream mixture and refrigerate to set...

Top with whipped cream and shaved chocolate, cut a slice and enjoy...

20 Sweets in 20 Weeks - #4: Apple Pie

I feel very slack indeed - I posted up the poll for "week 4" of 20 Sweets in 20 Weeks way back in July I only just now finally got around to baking my apple pie. What can I say? Life happened - separation, pregnancy and of course little Grace. So I have been busy - but now that I am back on the blogging bandwagon I promise to get through the rest of the 20 sweets nice and quick.

So even though it got to 39 degrees Celsius (102 F) on Thursday I decided that that would be the day to bake my hot apple pie. This recipe is quite easy to follow and the pie that you get at the end is simply delicious. A lovely pastry, a filling that is not too sweet and a lovely cinnamon flavour. The only things that I changed (read: stuffed up) was using strips of pastry on top of the pie instead of having it completely covered in pastry and I left out the lemon zest from the lemony apple filling. I had to do strips of pastry because my pie dish was larger than the required 23cm dish so I didn't have enough pastry to cover it, and I left out the lemon because I forgot to buy one, but it still tasted really good without it. Now on to the recipe...

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie (from The Australian Women's Weekly Basic Cookbook)

Pastry
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup self-raising flour
1/4 cup cornflour
1/4 cup custard powder
1 tbsp caster sugar
125g unsalted butter, chopped
1 egg, separated
1/4 cup water, approximately
1 tbsp caster sugar, extra

Lemony Apple Filling
7 large apples (I used granny smith apples)
1/2 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp grated lemon rind (I omitted this)

1. Pastry: Combine sifted flours, custard powder and sugar in large bowl, rub in chopped butter with fingertips until ingredients are just combined.
2. Add enough combined egg yolk and water to mix to a firm dough. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface, knead gently until smooth. Cut dough in half, wrap in plastic wrap, refrigerate 30 minutes.
3. Roll out half the pastry between sheets of plastic wrap until large enough to line deep 23cm pie plate.
4. Remove top piece of plastic from pastry. Use remaining plastic to help turn pastry into pie plate. Carefully press pastry into pie plate; do not stretch pastry. Carefully remove remaining plastic.
5. Trim edge of the pastry with sharp knife; reserve scraps.
6. Spoon cold filling evenly into pastry case, brush edge of pastry with lightly beaten egg white.
7. Roll out remaining pastry, cover filling with pastry. Press edges together firmly, trim with knife. Using fingers pinch edges to make a frill. (I didn't have enough pastry because my pie tin was too big so I just put strips of pastry on top of my pie)
8. Roll reserved pastry scraps between sheets of plastic wrap, cut leaf shapes from pastry, if desired. Mark veins on leaves using small knife. Brush pastry with egg white, place leaves in position, brush leaves with egg white.
9. Sprinkle pie evenly with extra sugar. Bake at 425 F for 20 minutes, reduce heat to 350 F, bake further 20 minutes or until pie is golden brown.
10. Lemony Apple Filling: Peel apples, cut into quarters, remove cores. Cut each quarter in half lengthways. Place apples into large saucepan with water, bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, cook for about 5 minutes or until apples are just tender. Transfer apples to a bowl, gently stir in sugar, cinnamon and lemon rind; cool to room temperature.

On the second day of Christmas (Fruit Mince Pies)

Is anyone else here a massive fan of fruit mince pies? The wonderful soft and crumbly pastry and then that sweet and spicy fruit mince is definitely one of my favourite Christmas treats. In the past I have always bought store-made mince pies and have always thought they were pretty good, but this year I decided that it goes against my baking ethos to buy store-made and so I took on the challenge to bake my own.

For some reason I thought baking your own fruit mince pies would be a difficult and tedious task, however I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is actually quite easy and they taste fantastic! The fruit mince is not as sickly sweet as it generally is when it is store-made and I think the variety of dried fruit used in this recipe really makes the pies.


So on with the recipe. First off you need to make your fruit mince...


Spiced Fruit Mince (from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book)
Makes 14 cups

750g sultanas
750g raisins, chopped (I didn't chop mine)
450g dried currants
500g seeded dates, chopped
500g seeded prunes, chopped
2 large green-skinned apples, peeled and grated
200g brown sugar
2 tbsp finely grated orange rind
1 tbsp mixed spice
2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup plum jam
375ml brandy (I used unsweetened orange juice instead)

1. Mix all ingredients in large bowl.
2. Cover tightly with cling wrap and store in the fridge for at least 3 days before using (I had mine in the fridge for 2 weeks).
3. Stir the mixture once each day.
4. Mixture can be kept for 6 months.
   

Now that you have the fruit mince ready to go you just need to get the pastry ready and pop those babies in the oven.


Fruit Mince Pies (from The Australian Women's Weekly - The Christmas Book)
Makes 24

300g plain flour
150g unsalted butter, chilled
1 tsp finely grated orange rind
1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp caster sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 tbsp water, approximately (I only needed 1 tsp)
2 1/2 cups fruit mince
1 egg, lightly beaten, extra

1. Sift flour into medium bowl, rub in butter, stir in rind, oil and sugar.
2. Add egg and enough water to make ingredients cling together.
3. Turn onto floured surface; knead until smooth. Cover pastry and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
4. Roll pastry between 2 sheets of baking paper until 3mm thick. Cut 24 x 7.5cm rounds from pastry, re-rolling dough as necessary to make 24 rounds.
   
5. Place rounds into 2 greased 12-hole (2 tbsp capacity) patty pan trays.
   
6. Divide mince among pastry cases.
   
7. Roll remaining pastry out and cut out 24 small stars. Top the pies with the stars.
8. Brush pastry with extra egg.
9. Bake in a 180C oven for 20 minutes or until browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
10. Serve dusted with icing sugar.

Bottoms of the pies...


Filled with fruit mince, topped with a pastry star and brushed with egg wash ready for the oven...


Fresh out of the oven...


Dusting with icing sugar...


mmm yummy...


Rating
5 out of 5 reindeers!