Miniature Blackberry Pies

MINIATURE BLACKBERRY PIES

 

There's nothing like fresh fruit in the summer. My husband and kids picked blackberries from our fence row last week and couldn't wait for me to make something with them. This idea came to me (though I'm sure it's been done before), and it was a huge hit after dinner last night.

Fresh  blackberries

Ingredients:

3 cups of fresh blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

1.5 Tbsp cornstarch

1/2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 boxes of Jiffy pie crust mix (or two ready-made crusts)

1 egg

stick of butter

vanilla ice cream (optional)

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, toss the blackberries, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Let stand, mixing and coarsely mashing occasionally, about 5-10 minutes. Follow the directions on the Jiffy box to make two pie crusts.

 

Blackberry mixture

 

Roll a ball of pie crust, about the size of your palm. in flour and flatten with a rolling pin. Place this small crust in a muffin pan. Continue until all muffin compartments are full. Trim edges and save remaining crust.

 

 

Spoon the blackberry mixture into the pie shells. Dot each pie with butter. Using the remaining dough, flatten crust and cut into 1/4" strips. Arrange strips in a lattice pattern on top of the filling on each cup and trim the strips close to the edge of the dough cup. Crimp the edges of each pie.

 

 

 

 

 

Lightly beat the egg with 1 Tbsp water and brush onto the top and edge of each pie.

Place the muffin tin on a large sheet of aluminum foil in case any of the mixture bubbles over. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Do not let crust burn.

 

 

I served these straight out of the oven with two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Yummy!

 

Barefoot Summer Cake

BAREFOOT SUMMER CAKE

 

Here is a fun cake I designed this weekend to help promote author Denise Hunter's new book (available in June) after she so graciously gave me an Advanced Reader's Copy last month. The book is fantastic, perfect for reading anywhere, but would make a great vacation read. Since the beach is a perfect place to read a good book, it was my inspiration for his design. (See my author blog at www.candicesuepatterson.blogspot.com for a book review of Barefoot Summer by Denise Hunter.)


Here are step-by-step instructions on how to replicate this cake, great for a summer gathering or book club get-together!


I started with a boxed cake mix from the grocery store that I baked and let cool completely. Next, I mixed half a container of chocolate fudge frosting with half a container of vanilla frosting to make a light brown--the base for the sand. Then I added blue Wilton food coloring gel to the remaining vanilla frosting, stirring just enough to create a mixture of blues and still leaving some white. Using a spatula, I spread the chocolate frosting first on the bottom half of the cake and corresponding sides, smoothing evenly. With another spatula, I spread the blue frosting on, in a messy manner, making peaks and dips to give the appearance of waves. A mixture of ground graham crackers and brown sugar created sand that I spread over the chocolate frosting.


Next, I got to play around with gumpaste, which is my favorite part of decorating a cake!

Flattening a half-dollar size amount of gumpaste, I scored the shape of a flip-flop using the a knife then cut it out when it reached my satisfaction. I placed it on an empty spot of gumpaste and cut around it to make the next flip-flop uniform to the other. Then using very thin strips of gumpaste, I molded the straps of the flip-flops and pieced them together.

With more gumpaste, I rolled out a very thin (almost transparent) strip to mold into a beach towel.

 

Then I created the book by forming a thick square of gumpaste and scoring the middle deeply so it would bend. A thin layer of gumpaste attached to the bent square created the book cover. I scored the middle to create the spine of the book.

I also created a sailboat sculpting gumpaste into the correct shape and rolling gumpaste thin enough to be used a sail, which I poked through a toothpick. (Sorry, I forgot to take a picture of the boat in progress.)

After the gumpaste dried hard, I painted the items using various colors of Wilton food coloring gels.
When the items were dry, I placed them on the cake how I wanted them to be.


Here are some close-ups of the details:

Gumpaste flip-flops

Any one of Denise's great books!

All put together

Sailboat

Hope you enjoy!
Don't forget to visit my author blog at www.candicesuepatterson.blogspot.com and Denise Hunter's website at www.denisehunterbooks.com.

Swiss Roll Delight

 

SWISS ROLL DELIGHT

 

 

 

 

 

I made this for a church gathering we had last week, and it was a huge favorite with the kids (and yummy for adults too!). This recipe is very easy and delicious. (And who doesn't love the combination of chocolate and whipped cream?!)

 

 

 

Recipe:

1 package of Swiss Rolls (12 pack)

2-3/4 cups cold milk

2 packages instant chocolate fudge pudding mix (3.9 oz each)

2 cups whipped topping

 

 

 

Cut each cake roll into eight equal slices; set aside any chocolate coating that separates from the rolls for garnish.



Line a 9-inch springform pan with cake slices, completely covering the bottom and sides.

 

 

In a small bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set. Pour over cake. Spread with whipped topping; sprinkle with any reserved chocolate coating. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours (or overnight) until serving.

Yield: 12 servings.

 



Peanut Butter & Jelly Pie

PEANUT BUTTER & JELLY PIE

 

 

Ingredients:
1/2 pkg (15 oz) refrigerated pie crust (1 crust)
1/4 cup chopped peanuts, divided
1 quart strawberries (about 1-lb), divided
1 pkg (8 oz) cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup milk
1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping, thawed, divided
1 pkg (3.3 oz) white chocolate instant pudding and pie filling
1/4 cup seedless strawberry jam



Recipe:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Let pie crust stand at room temperature 15 minutes. Gently unfold crust onto lightly floured surface. Roll to an 11-1/2 inch circle. Place crust into pie plate, pressing dough into the bottom and up the sides. Prick bottom and sides with fork. Sprinkle half of the peanuts over bottom of pie crust. Bake 10-12 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove from oven; cool completely.

Rinse strawberries and pat dry with paper towels. Select six uniformly sized strawberries; set aside for garnish. Hull and slice remaining strawberries and arrange over bottom of crust.

Combine cream cheese and peanut butter in mixing bowl; whisk until smooth. Gradually add milk, whisking until smooth. Add half of the whipped topping and all of the pudding mix; mix until smooth. Immediately spoon filling into crust, spreading evenly.

Whisk jam until smooth; pour over center of filling. Spread jam into a 6-inch circle. Pipe rosettes around edge of pie, using remaining topping. Sprinkle remaining peanuts over pie. Slice reserved strawberries in half; arrange over whipped topping. Refrigerate at least one hour.

Yields: 12 servings.