Daring to do it: Pie

 

Rachael from pizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie!

To say I was excited when I saw the announcement of this month's challenge would be a HUGE understatement. I love pie.  Like, really and truly love it.  And, ever since  discovered home-made crust, I make pie kind of regularly.  Rachael's challenge was really exciting to me not only for the chance to make pies, but also to learn some new ones.  Of the four recipes Rachael gave us, I had only ever made one - and it wasn't even the same recipe, just the same type of pie.  So this was going to be fun.
Now, I am kind of disappointed in myself for this month's showing.  I really wanted to make nine kinds of pie.  (If anyone knows the picture book reference to all nine kinds of pie we like best, I might have to find a way to bake a pie just for you!)  But, after one intensive week of pie baking, I didn't have the chance to make any more...  So four pies was all I managed...
First was a strawberry pie which my family has made for a long time:

I started with the cookie crust from the Crack Pie recipe Rachael provided:

I then decided to kick it up a notch:

Yup.  Chocolate.  How could that not be good?
Add the berries and the berry glaze:

Slice, eat and enjoy!

 

Next I made the chocolate caramel tart provided in the challenge. 

Start with a pastry crust, which I love making:

I also love using my tart pan...  It's the little things in life...!
After the shell is prebaked, yummy home made caramel goes in:

Then comes the chocolate mouse layer:

Bake until rich, dark and decadent:



Once again, slice and enjoy:

This pie is SO good.  I mean, it is amazing.  I have already had the request to make it again!  I did make a few recipe adjustments to make it non-dairy, but they didn't seem to alter the end product, and I will totally be keeping this recipe!

Next was a recipe I have had in my collection for a while but I hadn't tried before.  Brown Sugar Pie:

This time I used my tried and true pie crust recipe that I know by heart:

Then whip together the sugary filling:

Another pie bake, another chance to slice and enjoy!

Sweet!  This was kind of like a pecan pie without the pecans.  I really liked it!

Finally I made a double crust fruit pie: 

I again used my regular pie crust recipe, doubled.  Roll out the bottom layer, using between half and two thirds of the dough to leave enough overhang, then fill with fruit:

The fruit in this case was all I had in the house - peaches, plums, nectarines and an apple to fill it up.
I then used my handy little pie rolling 'bag" to roll out the top crust and cut out some sort of design: 

But I didn't like the way it wound up with that big hole in the middle.  So I played:

I kind of felt like a rock star - that looked so cool!
Last time for the month I got to slice and enjoy:

 

 

Pie month ROCKED.  Rachael, you have me on a pie kick again, and I can't thank you enough.  Neither can my family, who loved this challenge as much as I did!

Check out what my fellow Daring Bakers made this month, but please keep a napkin handy to wipe up the drool!