After such success with the unusual flavor combination of butterscotch and curry reviewed in Episode 63, Stefin is testing out some other interesting duos to see what Andrea thinks. Thumbs up for the coconut and egg, orange and olive, courgette (zucchini) and lime, and Stilton and rhubarb; thumbs down for strawberry and tomato and lavender and white cheese.
Listeners, what are some unusual flavor combinations you like to use in baking?
Andrea shares a quick tip for making chocolate covered strawberries at home using the chocolate glaze from Matthew Kenny’s Vegan Brownie Truffles. Simply melt 3 Tbsp. of coconut oil, add 3 Tbsp. of maple syrup, and stir in 3 Tbsp. of cacao powder (you can also add a splash of vanilla or a pinch of cinnamon). Rinse your strawberries, dry them thoroughly, dip them into the chocolate glaze, and place them on a parchment lined sheet tray in the fridge for 30 minutes until set. A delicious light dessert!
On to the review of Alton Brown’s Shoo-fly pie, another entry in the popular ‘desperation pie’ category. (For more talk on desperation pies, check out Episode 15.) Andrea used all of the ingredients specified in the recipe, but skipped a few techniques: the plastic bag, the spritz bottle, and the double pie plate inversion. Luckily, her blind bake was still successful. Whew! Stefin made her life even easier by using February sponsor Pie Provisions Pie Crust Mix for the crust, and also had one of the most beautiful blind bake crusts she’s ever experienced. Stefin loves this pie, and has made it twice, the first time with Lyle’s Golden Syrup in place of the molasses, and the second time with an American style molasses. Both turned out great, with the texture of the filling being a bit different – the molasses version was firmer. Andrea tinkered with one of the filling ingredients, using Billington’s Molasses Sugar in place of dark brown sugar, and found the final result to be a bit too overwhelming with the molasses flavor. Stefin’s only complaint was that the pie wasn’t quite as pretty as she would have liked, but a pretty dollop of whipped cream on top solves that problem!
Next week’s bake along is Joy the Baker’s Strawberry Rhubarb Pie, one of Andrea’s favorite pies. Andrea will be using frozen fruit she put away this summer, while Stefin will be using fresh rhubarb, as England forces rhubarb, which is grown in the dark, and harvested by candlelight (no, we’re not kidding). Reading the instructions, Stefin ponders what a shaggy dough looks like. We hope you’ll bake along with us and share your pictures on our Preheated Facebook group.
Wrapping up Pie School, our final topic is miniaturizing pies, a great idea when serving a crowd, or when trying to cut back on your own serving sizes. Stefin recommends a Strawberry Ice Cream Piewich, a new idea that Andrea’s eager to try. Stefin also recounts baking strawberry empanadas that didn’t quite fit into her oven but managed to cement a fond memory of baking for her husband. Andrea is enjoying baking mini pies in Mason jar lids, and in 2″ mini muffin tins.
We hope you enjoyed our second annual Month of Pie as much as we did! Up next month: Bread!
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