PIE FAVORS

I love these DELUXE Wedge-Shaped Pie Box Kits. Perfect for any special occasion including weddings, summer soirees, or simply to just give the gift of pie. These fabulous French pie kits come in sets of 24 along with adorable wooden forks, 8 large sheets of parchment paper for lining, and 14 yards of traditional red/white bakers twine.

HEATWAVE

ICE-BOX PIE

ph: via sweetfineday

The following strawberry ice-box pie is perfect for cooling off on hot days. I slightly modified the original recipe from sweetfineday to make it gluten-free.

Fresh Strawberry Cream Pie (Gluten-Free)

Gluten-Free Crust:

1 1/3 cups gluten-free graham cracker crumbs (see below)

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour

6 tbsp melted butter

1. Preheat oven to 300º F. Mix everything together by hand, and press firmly into a 10-inch springform pan. The crust should go up the sides of the pan about three inches. Bake in the oven for about 12 minutes, until it has firmed up a bit. Let it cool while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

5 cups strawberries, washed and stems removed

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp gelatin powder, soaked in 1/4 cup cold water

1. Roughly chop one cup of the strawberries and place in a small saucepan with the sugar. Cook until reduced to a puree. Remove from heat, then stir in the soaked gelatin. Mix the remaining strawberries, then immediately pour into the cooled crust. Spread them out so the top is level, then prepare the whipped cream topping.

Topping:

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 tbsp powered sugar

1 tsp gelatin powder

2 tbsp milk

1. Whip the cream and sugar to stiff peaks. Soak the gelatin in the milk for two minutes, then heat gently until dissolved. Gradually fold the whipped cream into the gelatin, then spread on top of the strawberries. Chill for several hours before removing from the pan and slicing.

Gluten-Free Graham Crackers (found on seriouseats)

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

1/2 cup cornstarch

1/3 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

5 tbsp butter, cold

6 tbsp milk

3 tbsp honey

1. Preheat oven to 350º F. In a food processor, combine dry ingredients. Pulse to combine.
2. Add the butter. Pulse until flour mixture is coarse. No large pieces of butter should remain.
3. Add milk and honey. Pulse until dough forms.
4. Turn dough out into a lightly rice floured piece of 12x16 parchment paper.
5. Pat dough into a rectangle. Dust the top of the dough lightly with rice flour.
6. Place a second piece of 12x16 parchment paper on top of the dough. Roll dough out until it covers all of the paper. Dough rectangle should be about 1/8-inch thick.
7. Carefully remove top piece of parchment paper. Transfer dough, with bottom parchment, to a 12x18 baking sheet.
8. This isn't necessary for the pie crust since the graham crackers will be crushed but if you want to make actual graham crackers rectangles then score the dough into rectangles with a pizza wheel. For "standard" crackers they should be sized 6x2 3/4 inches.
9. Prick dough all over with a fork. Chill dough for 10 minutes before baking.
10. Bake for 15 minutes or until evenly brown.
11. Remove graham crackers from the sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.
12. Allow crackers to cool completely. Break along scored lines.

KEEP YOUR FORK, THERE'S PIE!

I'd heard about Brooklyn's Four & Twenty Blackbirds pie shop back in Los Angeles, but despite my many visits to New York I never seemed to make it there. This morning I woke up determined to make the trek to Gowanus for a taste of one of their homespun offerings - specifically the Salty Caramel Apple pie. Only, with options like Sour Cherry and Blueberry Rhubarb Crumble... how's a pie lover to choose? It was the Salty Honey pie that finally won out. It simply sounded too delicious to resist. I wasn't disappointed. Paired with fresh whipped cream, every scrumptious bite of this custard pie was like balm to my soul. One of the best pies I've ever eaten.

Four & Twenty Blackbirds

439 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215 (718) 499-2917

Here's Four & Twenty's recipe for Salty Honey Pie courtesy of South Brooklyn Post.

Photos: Elise Brandenburg

PROOF IS IN THE PIE

Voila! And here it is - cherry pie! My dad won't be enjoying a slice since we live on opposite coasts but my friends certainly will. We'll be thinking of you, dad, I promise... with every scrumptious bite. Mmmm -

CHERRY-O LOS ANGELES

It's just after midnight and I'm baking cherry pie - my dad's favorite. The smoke alarms are blaring, the stereo is blasting, and as blurry-eyed as I am at this late hour - I'm blogging. The truth is there are a million and one things I should be doing like sorting, packing, and getting my house in order but I'm totally stressed out. At the end of the month I'm moving back to New York City. I admit it's got me in a kind of paralysis. Not because I'm leaving Los Angeles, but because of all the headache involved with moving. When I was younger it was easy. I lived by the motto that what didn't fit in two suitcases was just junk you sold off or donated. And although I reside in what I call my dwarf's cottage I find I've accumulated a lot of... stuff. I had plans to advertise on Craig's List, organize a yard sale slash pie social, and throw a hootenanny where all my friends could just come over help themselves. I don't foresee any of this happening. Instead here I am at the tail end of a tale spin, ready to just abandon everything and disappear. Are you allowed to that? Probably not. So here I am... baking. I find it puts things in perspective for me. There's no agonizing over what needs to be done because all you need to do is follow directions. Baking also requires all my attention so I find I'm less inclined to be distracted by the little voice inside my head asking, just what the heck are you doing? The short answer -cherry pie.

FREAKY FRIDAY