Another pie to add to my ever growing collection of pie recipes. If you were to breakdown the recipes on this site in terms of numbers, cookies and such would be first (I love cookies!) but then pies would certainly be a close second. And this recipe is great. Sweet cherries, tart currants, great combination. And I like galettes because they are rustic and free-form. Lovely summer.
What can you say really … when you have an overload of delicious berries from the Pick Your Own at Russell Orchards, you just have to go crazy. This is amazing, if I do say so myself. You might call it a cheesecake (very lemony!), you might call it a pie. I call it yummy. Topped with red and champagne currants (disclaimer: I got the champagne / pink ones from Whole Foods), jostaberries, strawberries (the very last of the season!), blueberries and raspberries. It’s a time consuming project, but oh so very very good. If you have 24 hours to spare (or at minimum twelve, but half of that is cooling time anyway), give it a go.
So while we are gearing up for Independence Day here in the United States, it’s Canada Day today (July 1st) I’m celebrating with this lovely Maple Apple Pie. It is more autumn-ish than summer-ish, but apples are around year round. Remember to use a firmer apple (pink lady, honey crisp, or if nothing else is available, a granny smith) and avoid ones that get mushy (mackintoshes are a big no no for baking). Also, I used maple extract in addition to the maple syrup, to amp up the flavor some. In full disclosure, the maple syrup didn’t come from Canada… it’s from Maine (New Englander that I am!)
Another weekend, another pie. In fact, I think that this is the third weekend out of five that I have made some variation on the theme. But I like blueberry pie, and so do a lot of my friends, and this one is again for a grilling dinner. I’ll probably be switching to strawberries here soon, anyway (but then back to blueberries when my favorite kind — Maine Wild Blueberries — are ripe later in the summer. In the meantime, here is this variation, which has a bit of tartness from the balsamic and a bit of sweet from the honey. Don’t be put off by the touch of pepper: you don’t actually taste it much but adds a nice little bit of depth of flavor.
I am “up to Camp”, as one says in New England-ish, this weekend. So I am packing up Ludwig (yes, my car is named Ludwig van Volkswagon) and headed north from the steamy city. New England, after our brutal winter, skipped spring altogether and it’s been summertime hot for the good part of a week. No complaints, though I do have to put in my air conditioners soon, lest I have to stop baking in the heat. And never one to arrive empty handed, here is the pie I made.
This pie title and idea with the “stars” is based on a pie that I saw somewhere on the intertubes called Midnight in Paris Pie. Of course, they don’t really have pies in French desserts (tarts, yes … pies, not so much) and it was just someone using the cut out stars to decorate a “plain” blueberry pie. I went for the berry combo to make it a little “darker” and then added the mint. You don’t actually taste the mint too much but it does have a nice freshening effect.