Queen of Pies: Butterscotch Peach

Peach Butterscotch, for real.
Peach Butterscotch, for real.

Confession–I made this pie again for Thanksgiving with my family, along with a thickened up Apple-Cranberry, and I left the recipe at home. I messed up the butterscotch, because I left out the flour, and it still was delicious.

The major discoveries of this pie included: The fact that butterscotch is made of ingredients, a thing we had never really thought about, and that none of those ingredients were scotch. Made of canned peaches, and with the butter scotch factor, this is not a summery peach pie.

If you are trying to seduce someone, impress your in-laws, or apologize for doing something really awful, this is the pie you want.

 

Ingredients:

2 piecrusts
One large can peaches (28 ounces)
half a cup brown sugar
2 TBSP flour
1/8 tsp salt
half a cup of syrup from the peaches
quarter cup of margarine
2  TBSP lemon juice
1/4- 1/2 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp sugar

Directions

  1. Drain the peaches, reserving half a cup of syrup. Place them in the piecrust.
  2. Mix the sugars, flour, syrup and margarine together. Cook on the stovetop until thick, over medium heat.
  3. When gooey and thick, add the almond extract and lemon juice. Stir.
  4. Pour over the peaches.
  5. Place top crust on pie. Seal and vent.
  6. Bake for 45 minutes at 425 degrees.
  7. Accept all the accolades graciously.

 

Double the Cranberries, Double the Fun: Two Cranberry Pies

Cranberries are a Thanksgiving classic, so A and I were delighted to make not one, but two cranberry pies. One sweet, and one savory, we liked them both a lot!

First, the savory. Originally, this recipe was for pork and cranberries, but we did a vegan switch and subbed seitan for the piggy, and liquid smoke and some smoked salt for the bacon. The result was delicious. Even meat and potatoes people liked it!

An excellent vegan main course for Thanksgiving.
An excellent vegan main course for Thanksgiving.

Here’s how it went down:

Ingredients:

Enough seitan to fill a pie dish. I used the Viva la Vegan recipe for white seitan, which is steamed. I think I used about four loaves of seitan, chopped up, probably about  3 cups.

1 tsp of sage, or meat rub, or thyme, or anything tasty.

quarter cup flour

A solid shake of liquid smoke.

A solid shake of smoked salt.

1 cup ground cranberries

one third cup sugar

1 cup hot water

1 biscuit crust: 1 cup flour, 1.5 tsp baking powder, .5 tsp salt, .25 cup margarine, one third cup almond milk

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

  1. Mix the herbs, flour and salt together. Toss seitan to coat. Pan fry in a little margarine, until browned and delicious. Place in a casserole dish, or a deep pie pan.
  2. Combine the cranberries and sugar, and sprinkle over the seitan. Pour cup of hot water over all, and stick it in the oven.
  3. While that’s baking, mix up your biscuit crust. Combine the dry crust ingredients, and cut margarine into it until crumbly. Add milk, stir. Knead it a few times, then roll it out, ideally between sheets of parchment paper. Cut into strips, or circles, or whatever seems cool to you.
  4. Take the seitan cranberry mix out of the oven, place biscuits on top, return to oven.
  5. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

 

Our sweet cranberry venture was a Harvest Apple-Cranberry Pie. Of all our pies, this is the only recipe I’d tweak for recipe, rather than vegan reasons. It just didn’t set, and while delicious, I think it would be improved by more cooking, which is reflected here. However, the flavor was fantastic.

I mean, look at that thing.
I mean, look at that thing.

Ingredients:

2 piecrusts (bonus recipe for peanut pie crust below!)

.75 cup sugar

3 TBSP cornstarch

.25 tsp salt

.75 cup corn syrup

.25 cup water

1.5 cups raw cranberries

2 tsp. grated orange peel

1.5 cups chopped apples

2 TBSP margarine.

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt together in a saucepan. Add corn syrup and water slowly. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens to a filling-like consistancy.
  3. Add cranberries and continue to cook until their skins pop, add orange peel. Cool mixture.
  4. Add apples to the mixture, pour into piecrust. Dot the top with margarine, add top crust and seal and vent the pie.
  5. Bake for 40-50 minutes.

 

For this pie, we branched out, and made a Peanut Pie Shell. It was delicious. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour (you should probably sift it)

.5 tsp baking powder

.5 tsp salt

one third cup vegetable shortening

one quarter cup crushed salted peanuts

3 to 4 TBSP cold water

Directions:

  1. Crush the peanuts by putting them in a plastic bag, and banging on them with your rolling pin.
  2. Sift dry ingredients together.
  3. Cut in shortening.
  4. Add peanuts.
  5. Sprinkle cold water over mixture, a little at a time, until dough holds together in a ball.
  6. Roll it out. Put it in a pie pan.
  7. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes before filling.

This crust would be fantastic with a chocolate filling, or a regular apple pie filling.

Moving so quickly her hands blurred, A crushes the peanuts with her rolling pin of might.
Moving so quickly her hands blurred, A crushes the peanuts with her rolling pin of might.

 

 

 

Green Grape Apple Pie

This pie did not explode, counter to all our expectations.
This pie did not explode, counter to all our expectations.

You read that right. Green grapes and apples. It was just too weird not to try.

“Will the grapes explode when we bake them?” we wondered. “Will they turn to mush?”

We decided that A) they would most likely explode and B) that’s probably why no one makes  Grape pies anymore.

They did not explode. They stayed pretty grape-like, in fact. It really wasn’t much different than apple pie, and we agreed that while it tasted fine, the grapes didn’t add enough oomph to make us want to make it again. But if you want to, here’s the recipe:

You need:

Two crusts.

Filling

2 cups seedless green grapes
3 cups sliced peeled apples
1 cup sugar
3 TBSP quick-cooking tapioca
1⁄4 tsp. each cinnamon, cardamom and salt
2 TBSP margarine (originally butter)

Mix everything together except for the margarine. Allow to sit for a few minutes, to get all melded and tapioca-ed. Pour into a piecrust, and dot the top with margarine. Put on the top crust, seal the edges and vent the crust. Bake for 50-60 minutes in a 425 degree oven.

So if you encounter a really good grape sale, or something, you can make a pie! I would gladly eat this on any occasion, but doubt I’ll make it again.