creme de la Cream Pies

The holidays hold endless amounts of meaning. They're full of tradition, and family and food... Well I've got three things REALLY going for me right now and I need to share them with you so you understand my jubilee:

1. my mother is greek- lots of family
2. my father is lebanese- LOTS of food
3. thanksgiving, Christmas and new year's are all packed into a two month span, which means as a food blogger, i'm in Recitherapeutic heaven.

I've got SO many recipes to share with you, ESPECIALLY desserts over the next few weeks, so be sure to keep an eye out and whip up some of this goodness for your festive family holiday nights!

Today, I'm unlocking a very secret recipe for you, thanks to my mother... my all-time favorite pies: Chocolate Cream Pie and Banana Cream Pie. The Good Lord has had MERCY on my soul... these pies... I made them to take over to Nolan and Nicole's THANKSMAS tradition dinner. I'll share a few moments from that magical night and you'll see how happy these pies made everyone.

For The Crust You'll Need: (one 9 inch pie)

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup plus 1 Tablespoon Crisco shortening (don't mess with a good thing, I say)
• 3 Tablespoons cold water, or more as needed

Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Mix together flour and salt until well combined. With a pastry cutter or two butter knives, cut in the shortening until pea size clumps form and it's well combined. Add in the water, one tablespoon at a time and toss the dough with a fork until it JUST forms a ball and comes together. DO NOT OVERMIX. Gather the dough together and form a ball, then place it on a well floured surface to be rolled out. Flour the top of the dough ball lightly before beginning to roll with your rolling pin. Roll it out until large enough to cover the circumference of your pie dish. Gently roll the dough back onto itself over the rolling pin, lift the rolling pin to one edge of the pie dish and roll it out onto the dish. Press it into the dish, crimp the edges, making sure to cut of excess dough and lightly poke the bottom with a fork in a few spots to let air out. BAKE THE PIE CRUST WITHOUT ANY FILLING IN IT for 8-10 minutes.

For The Banana Cream Filling:

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks, gently beaten
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a saucepan, mix together sugar, cornstarch and salt. In a separate small bowl, mix together the milk and the egg yolks until combined. Slowly stir the egg and milk mixture into the dry ingredients then turn the heat on medium heat. STIR CONSTANTLY otherwise the sugar will burn. This process can take 10-12 minutes, so be patient and be happy stirring. :) The mixture will start to thicken. When it starts to boil, continue stirring and only let it boil for 1 minute. Remove it from the heat and add in the butter and vanilla. Keep stirring until well blended and butter is melted. While the filling is STILL IN SAUCEPAN, press plastic wrap onto the filling and let it cool. This will keep film from forming on the top. Slice 2 large bananas into the bottom of the pie crust and put another banana aside to slice on top when you fill the pie. Once the filling is nicely cooled, pour it into the prepared pie crust, slice your other banana on top and chill in the refrigerator for a few hours before serving.

For The Chocolate Cream Filling:

• 1 & 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 cups milk
• 4 egg yolks, lightly beaten
• 1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 ounces chocolate, unsweetened baking squares or semi-sweet morsels, semi-sweet is more intense

Follow the exact same instructions as the banana cream filling, being mindful of the ingredients that were omitted or changed. Add the chocolate in just after adding the milk and egg mixture to the saucepan. Prepare the exact same way, omitting the bananas, of course. ;)

 oh baxter

Danny's awesome homemade cocktail... I chose the mint julep.

The one and only Rossi couple.

 nolan hand grinding some after dinner espresso.

 mini whisking whipped cream in our cups!

and to really finish the night off well

Tarts!

While your oven is still hot from your pie crusts, roll out the excess pie crust dough, drizzle it with melted butter, top with cinnamon and sugar, roll it up, slice it in inch segments, lay them out on a baking sheet and bake for a few minutes until golden and bubbly!

HAPPY BAKING MONDAY, friends!

xox