Lizzie's Banana Cream Pie

This week, my daughters had a talent show at church and they both decided they were going to do art and bake! :))) Miss Lizzie (age 5) made a terrific Banana Cream Pie from scratch! I was so proud of her!

First, she measured all the ingredients for the vanilla custard, following the recipe we chose. Then, she set up a chair for herself in front of the stove and started whisking it all together in the pot! It melted my heart, watching her whisk that custard away... She whisked, and whisked, and whisked... Until it all thickened and bubbled! She was super excited!

Once, she added the tempered eggs, the custard was all ready for butter and vanilla! It looked like this:  



We covered it with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for a while. Once cooled, it went in the pie dish lined with crackers: one layer of custard, sliced bananas, the rest of the custard. We covered it with plastic wrap again and left in the fridge overnight. Lizzie came up with the design herself and decorated it just before we had to leave for the talent show. It turned out gorgeous!



Lizzie's Banana Cream Pie
Ingredients:

 

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

1/2 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups whole or 2% milk

2 eggs, lightly beaten

3 tbsp. butter

1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Graham cracker crust (or other crackers of your choice to line pie dish with; Nilla wafers work too)

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped
strawberries for garnish (optional)

 

Directions:

 

In a large saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, salt, and milk and whisk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat. Stir a small amount of hot filling into eggs; return all to pan. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes longer.

 

Remove from heat. Gently stir in butter and vanilla extract. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate, covered, 30 minutes.

 

Spread half of the vanilla custard into Graham cracker crust or pie dish lines with crackers. Slice bananas; arrange over filling. Pour remaining custard over bananas. Spread with whipped cream or decorate to your liking. Refrigerate 6 hours or overnight.                

 

As you can see, my daughter decided to decorate this pie with whipped cream rosettes and halved strawberries and it looked beautiful. I've always liked the combination of bananas and strawberries. She was happy with it too! And we were all super proud of her! Everybody at the talent show loved her Banana Cream Pie! It was all gone! :)



Recipe adapted from: www.tasteofhome.com

Key Lime Pie

If you love citrus flavored desserts, this pie is the thing for you! It is unbelievably easy to make and with minimal effort, it looks- and tastes- like a gourmet dessert. It is out of this world delicious! There was not a single person at the party I brought it to that did not love it. Definitely going in my arsenal of quick, effortless and sublime desserts- for any time of year!

As a note of clarification, although the name of the pie is "key lime", you can most definitely make it with regular large limes. In my neck of the woods, it is rather hard to come by key limes, so "slight" substitutions have to be made when necessary. :) I assure you, although the taste may not be exactly the same as the original "key lime pie", it is not compromised one little bit by the use of regular limes. You will just have to trust me on this one. :) Now, go ahead and make it, so you can see what I am talking about!

Ingredients

Crust:

• 1-1/2 packed cups finely ground graham cracker crumbs (about 12 cracker rectangles)
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 5 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
  
• 
  
  Filling
• 1 tbsp (heaping) lime zest
• ½ cup fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

For the crust:
Crush crackers in a food processor or Ziploc bag. Pour them into a bowl and stir in sugar and melted butter. Press into a pie pan and bake for 5 minutes or until golden and set. Remove from oven and set aside to cool slightly. (Alternatively, as I did in this case since I was pressed for time, use a ready-made, store-bought graham cracker crust: it's not exactly the same, but works well when you are in a pinch.)

For the filling:
Mix lime zest, lime juice, and egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Add in condensed milk and mix on high until smooth and thick. Pour mixture into crust and bake for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven, allow to cool, then refrigerate for at least 1 hour—more if possible.
Serve with sweetened whipped cream and more grated lime zest- it makes for a great presentation and adds an extra luscious level of creaminess and super yumminess. :) Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from the Pioneer Woman's Key Lime Pie recipe

Cherry Pie with Lattice Top

This is was my first attempt at making pie- ever. Of course, I had to make the crust from scratch. I had heard horror stories about the finicky nature of pie crust, so I set off on this adventure with trepidations (to say the least). However, I was pleasantly surprised and quite satisfied with the final end result. Here is the recipe I used for the pie crust:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
1/2 cup water

Directions

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. Cut in shortening until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in water until mixture forms a ball. Divide dough in half, and shape into balls. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.

Roll out dough on a floured counter. Don't over work it. Use half for the bottom and the other half for the lattice top.I did use ready cherry pie filling but I wanted to take it one step at a time with the "first ever" accomplishments. :)

I admit, it went pretty straight forward, and even the lattice top was not as complicated as I thought it would be. And it sure looked beautiful, especially for a first try. :)

Courtesy:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-ever-pie-crust/detail.aspx

Apple Pie with Lattice Top

I am a cake girl, I confess. Pies are not my "thing". But for the sake of American tradition, I had to make a couple of pies this Thanksgiving. :) So, this is how it went...

 
Ingredients

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
(for the recipe I used, click here: http://4goodnessbake.blogspot.com/2010/11/cherry-pie.html)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.

Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

I was actually quite impressed with myself, being as this was the first time ever I made a pie- I made the pie crust and the filling from scratch, and I also did the lattice top. My guests loved the pie by the way... :) So, it was worth it after all.:)

Recipe adapted from:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/apple-pie-by-grandma-ople/detail.aspx