Pecan Pie for the Holidays

Pecan Pie is my all time favorite pie around this time of year. It is so rich and delicious and is great eaten all by its self. I was surprised when I made it for the first time at school how easy and how few ingredients it takes to make this pie, the pie crust takes the most work but using a 3 2 1 recipe even that is simple.

Yield 6-9 pies

Sugar 4 lb

Butter 4 oz 

Salt 1 TB

Egg beaten 24

Corn Syrup 1 qt

Vanilla 2 1/2  TB

Pecans 1 LB 8 oz

1. Cream sugar and butter

2. Add eggs and salt mix well

3. Pour pie filling into pie shell and top with pecans

4. Bake tell done at 350 degrees Approx. 40 minutes 

Chocolate Sprite Cookies

Chef Dale at school had the other student on short dough station and myself  use his recipe for these cookies to sell at the student commons

These were such a hit with the students, sold out day one!

You only have to bake these or a short period of time so they stay soft and chewy.

Yield 2 - 3 dozen

1 lb Sugar

1 lb Butter

1 cup Milk

8 oz Cocoa

2 lb 2 oz Pastry flour

1/2 oz Salt

Trace Vanilla

Place cookies in chocolate chips after slicing

1. Cream butter and sugar

2. Add milk and vanilla Mix well

3. Sift Cocoa, Pastry flour, and salt mix well

4. Form into tube slice disk

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

Dutch Chocolate Mint Cheesecake

So many ingredients for a little cheesecake

so easy to mess up.

"There is no such thing as failure as long as it is a learning experience"

The cheesecake wasn't pretty when it came out of the oven, but there is almost always a way to make your product pretty again. Garnishes are always your friend! My eggs were over whipped into my batter so the cheesecake rose then fell, leaving my ending product a sunken cheesecake. With the work of a knife to flatten out the top and my garnish of sour cream mint frosting topped with shaved chocolate transformed this cheesecake.

Crust: 

12 oz. Chocolate Cookie Crumbs

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

6 Tbsp. Sugar

7 oz. Soft Butter

Process and press into spring form

 Cake:

16 oz.  Chocolate

2 2/3  lbs.  Cream Cheese Frosting

2 1/3 cup  Sugar

3 oz. Cream

2/3 cup Cocoa

6 Eggs

2 tsp. Vanilla

2 1/3 tsp. Peppermint Extract

On low speed cream the cream cheese and sugar, add chocolate, cocoa, scrapping and creaming after each addition. Add cream and flavorings. Add eggs. Bake at 300 degrees until done.

Attempts at a pastry cream (culinary school)

It's so surprising how much you can learn in only 2 days with very letle guidance.

Fall term of school I will be in bakery station and the first 3 days I''ve started in costars, alone. This had me nervous when I heard this having never made a custard before. So the weekend before actual class in the kitchen started I made 3 custard pies. Number one was an avocado coconut, which turned out very well. Number two was white chocolate mixed berry also super yummy and turned out great. Third my personal favorite caramelized onion blue cheese and pear.

I thought I had prepared my self for what was to come Monday in class, but not quite, chef Hurley had me doing a completely different method then I practiced at home.

I made pastry cream, half for a coconut cream pie and the other for danish custards. My first batch I screwed up in the step after tempering the milk into the eggs then pouring the mixture back over the heat to thicken, turns out I more or less had scrambled eggs in the bottom of my pot.

I was mortified, it had taken me so long to get to that step and I had to start over. The second time I attempted it, it wasn't as bad, I didn't make scrambled eggs, I did get worried when the starch started to clump up in the same step my eggs had scrambled before, but it turned out I just needed to whisk like crazy so my custard thickened.

My end results turned out great, every last slice of coconut cream pie sold, which means I did something right.

Avocado Coconut Milk Custard Garnished with Fresh Sliced Avocado

Individual custard garnished with fresh avocado and a dot
of sriracha sauce

Custard with crust, garnished with shrimp
and a dot of sriracha sauce

Ingredients
2 large avocados
1 T lemon juice
1 can (13.5oz) coconut milk
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt
 1 tsp sriracha sauce
2 large eggs plus 2 egg yolks


1. Cut avocado in half remove seed and slice Fill 1 cup of sliced avocado press down. Left overs can be used to garnish
2. In food processor blend avocado, lemon juice, coconut milk, garlic powder, salt, sriracha sauce, blend until smooth
3. Whisk eggs and yolks in a mixing bowl
4. Whisk avocado mixture into eggs until very smooth
5. Pour mixture into prepared pie crust or individual custard dishes

         - if in custard dishes fill and place in a pan with water surrounding dish and bake in middle of oven

Bake for 60 minutes in middle of oven at 325 degrees
turn off oven and let set with door cracked until room temperature.

Complements to apronstringsblog.com
Altered custard recipe from site