Pies with That- Holiday Songs- Dorie's Creamiest Lime-Mango Meringue Pie with Ginger-Macadamia Crust

This month's theme for You Want Pies with That? is Holiday Songs, chosen by Anne Strawberry. Pretty fun, if you ask me. I don't know for sure what my favorite holiday song is, I like them all. I like singing them, playing them on the piano, humming them, or listening to them on the radio. I decided to do a play on a holiday song- It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas.
I do not love snow or cold weather, but I do enjoy a white christmas. I thought I would make a tropical pie, so I could pretend that it isn't cold and snowy (Well, it isn't snowy yet, but it is cold). So, my pie is the opposite of my song.
For the crust, I found a recipe that used ground gingersnaps, macadamia nuts, and crystallized ginger, so it was nice and spicy. I decided to fill my pie with Dorie's Creamiest Lime Cream because she says " I save this pie for summer because, as fresh as lime and ginger taste on their own, when they're mixed together, they turn uber-zingy and so cool you'd think they'd been in the deep freeze. It may be an illusion, but one you'll be happy to play along with on a sweltering day." And what the heck, why not make it a little more tropical by throwing a ripe mango in the middle of the cream, like Dorie suggests.
So I pretended it was a hot, sweltering day and made this pie. I increased the amount of meringue, so I would get some height and have enough to cover the pie and also reduced the amount of butter in the filling by 2 sticks, because I have made Dorie's Lemon Cream before; that cream is just like this one, and I liked the flavor better without all the butter. So, if you were wishing you were on a tropical island because It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas- this is the pie for you!

Dorie's Creamiest Lime-Mango Meringue Pie with Ginger-Macadamia Crust

for the crust: (recipe from epicurious.com)

1 1/3 cups ground gingersnaps cookies
1 3 1/2-ounce jar toasted macadamia nuts
1/4 cup packed golden brown sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted

for the filling: ( adapted from Dorie Greenspan's Baking from my home to yours)

1 cup sugar

grated zest of 3 limes

4 large eggs, preferably at room temperature

3/4 cup fresh lime juice ( from about 6 limes)

1 1-inch chunk of fresh ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 tsps cornstarch

3 Tbls unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into chunks

1 ripe mango, peeled, cut into cubes, and sprinkled with a little fresh lime juice

for the meringue: (adapted from Dorie's Baking)

6 large egg whites, at room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

For crust:Preheat oven to 350 °F. Generously butter 9-inch-diameter spring-form pan with 2 3/4-inch-high sides. Finely grind first 4 ingredients in processor. Add butter; blend until crumbs are moistened. Press mixture on bottom and 1 3/4 inches up sides of pan. Bake until crust is set, about 8 minutes. Transfer to rack, cool.

For the filling: Have an instant-read thermometer, a strainer, and a blender at hand. Bring a few inches of water to a simmer in a saucepan.

Put the sugar and zest in a large heatproof bowl that can be set over the pan of simmering water. Off the heat, rub the sugar and zest together with your fingertips, until the sugar is moist and fragrance of lime is strong. Whisk in the eggs, then whisk in the juice, ginger and cornstarch. Set the bowl over the pan and start stirring with a whisk. Cook the lime cream until is reaches 180 degrees F, whisking constantly. As you whisk, the cream will start out light and foamy, then the bubbles will get bigger, and then, as it gets closer to 180 degrees F, it will start to thicken and the whisk will leave tracks. It won't be done yet, keep whisking and checking the temp, this could take up to 10 minutes or more.

As soon as it reaches 180 degrees F, remove the cream from the heat and strain the cream into the container of a blender; discard the zest. Let it cool until it reaches 140 degrees F, about 10 minutes.

Turn the blender to high speed and add the butter a piece at a time. Scrape down the sides of the container and continue to blend for about a minute more. Pour the cream into a container, press a piece of plastic wrap against the surface, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

To finish the pie with the meringue- Preheat the broiler. Whisk the cream to loosen it and spoon about 1/3 of it into the cooled crust. Top with the diced mango and Cover with the remaining cream.

With the whisk attachment of your mixer, whip the egg whites at medium speed until opaque. With the mixer running, add the sugar in a slow stream and continue to beat until the whites are glossy and form firm peaks.

Spread the meringue over the lime filling, swirling it if you'd like. Make sure the meringue comes all the way to the edges of the crust, because it will shrink when it bakes.

Run the pie under the broiler until the meringue is golden and the tips are dark brown. Remove the pie from the oven and let it cool for about 15 minutes, then refrigerate for at least 3 hours.

Up Tomorrow- Craving Ellie in my Belly- Jewel Roasted Vegetables

You Want Pies with That? Fashion Edition, Southern Style- Banana Pudding Pie

I know absolutely nothing about Fashion.

So when I saw that this month's theme was Fashion, for You Want Pies with That?, I was stumped. The only thing I could think of was taking a dessert/pie that could represent " a little black dress" (traditional, familiar, standard, etc- you see where I am going with this, right?) and adding a little pizzazz to it. We had some visitors over for dinner and I was doing a Southern Meal, so looking through one of my Southern Living cookbooks, I found this twist on Banana Pudding. Banana Pudding is a traditional southern dessert that is usually vanilla custard, layered with sliced bananas and Vanilla Wafers and topped with meringue. This "twist" is turning Banana Pudding into a pie, by adding a Nilla Wafer crust and layering the pudding ingredients in the pie. Sorry if you think this is lame, but it was the best I could come up with! And if it makes you feel any better, the pie was delicious!

This was a hit with our visitors and hopefully fits as a Fashion Statement- taking a simple, traditional dessert and turning it into a "fashionable" pie!

Banana Pudding Pie from Southern Living

Prep: 20 min.; Bake: 24 min.; Cool: 1 hr., 30 min.; Chill: 4 hr.

Hang on to your egg yolks--you'll be using them in the

*Vanilla Cream Filling

1 (12-oz.) box vanilla wafers, divided

1/2 cup butter, melted

2 large bananas, sliced

Meringue

4 egg whites
1/2 cup sugar

1. Set aside 30 vanilla wafers; pulse remaining vanilla wafers in a food processor 8 to 10 times or until coarsely crushed. (Yield should be about 2 1/2 cups.) Stir together crushed vanilla wafers and butter until blended. Firmly press on bottom, up sides, and onto lip of a 9-inch pieplate.
2. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack, and let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.
3. Arrange banana slices evenly over bottom of crust. Prepare *Vanilla Cream Filling, and spread half of hot filling over bananas; top with 20 vanilla wafers. Spread remaining hot filling over vanilla wafers. (Filling will be about 1/4 inch higher than top edge of crust.)
4. Beat egg whites at high speed with an electric mixer until foamy. Add sugar, 1 Tbsp. at a time, beating until stiff peaks form and sugar dissolves. Spread meringue evenly over hot filling, sealing the edges.
5. Bake at 350° for 10 to 12 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let cool 1 hour on a wire rack or until completely cool. Coarsely crush remaining 10 vanilla wafers, and sprinkle evenly over top of pie. Chill 4 hours.

*Vanilla Cream Filling

Prep: 5 min., Cook: 10 min.

3/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

2 large eggs

4 egg yolks

2 cups milk

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Whisk together first 5 ingredients in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, 8 to 10 minutes or until it reaches the thickness of chilled pudding. (Mixture will just begin to bubble and will be thick enough to hold soft peaks when whisk is lifted.) Remove from heat, and stir in vanilla. Use immediately.

Coming Tomorrow- Cooking Light Night--Roasted Butternut Squash and Bacon Pasta

You Want Pies With That?- "A Lot Like Love" Fresh Peach-Raspberry Pie with White Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Coulis, and Fresh Peach Sorbet

WARNING- (This will be the sappiest, corniest, cheesiest post I ever write, but it all had to do with keeping the theme, so read on and forgive me ahead of time!)

"A Lot Like Love" Pie- 1- "A little goes a long way"

2- "Sometimes it gets a little messy"

3- "You have to wait for it, it is just that good"

Welcome to a new event, You Want Pies with That? Susie was inspired when she watched the movie, Waitress, a great film, where the main character invents pies with great names to describe what is going on in her life. Susie asked a few of us to join her and this group was born! The point of this group is to invent Pies!

Our first theme is "I love that Movie!" We got to choose a movie and create a pie that ties into it, be it by food, theme, a phrase, or whatever. This was really fun for me. I came up with about a million different movies and fun pies that would go along with them, but in the end, I just liked how this movie fit my pie.

A little background on my movie choice. This summer a dear friend, her little sister and I went to the drive-in, just for fun. We saw a movie that wasn't that great that starred Ashton Kutcher. I remembered that I don't like him when he plays characters that are supposed to be funny, I remembered I liked him once, when he played a more serious role. My friend hadn't seen that movie, so we rented it later that week. This same friend just happened to be in town when I was inventing my pie, so that made it even more fun. I love the movie- "A Lot Like Love", it follows 2 people who have a chance encounter and follows them through the years, they keep meeting up, but the timing is never right. I won't ruin the ending if you haven't seen it, but I loved this movie. It is quirky, fun and has great music.

I decided to create "A Lot Like Love" Pie. It starts with a Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust, because well, we all need a little spice and zing in our lives, right?

Next, comes the Fresh Peach and Raspberry Layers. This pie has lots of layers, because love is multi-layered, it is deep and there is always something more that you can give or get.

Then comes the White Chocolate Mousse, decadent and wonderful.

Top it off with Fresh Peach Sorbet and Raspberry Coulis, both fresh, beautiful,and tart, giving this pie just a little bit more!

This pie is "a lot like love" because it is multilayered-there is alot going on in and around this pie, but all the layers go so well with each other. It is sweet and fresh, rich and creamy, spicy and nutty, all at the same time. It reminds me of the last fruits and days of summer, you want that last peach to last forever, just like you want love to do the same. So, savor it slowly, and enjoy, it just might last forever!

"A Lot Like Love" Pie- Fresh Peach and Raspberry Pie in a Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust with White Chocolate Mousse, Raspberry Coulis, and Fresh Peach Sorbet by Mary Ann

Make the crust first. When it is almost cool, make fresh peach filling and fresh raspberry layer.

Add raspberry layer to cooled crust and spread to make even and smooth. Pour fresh peach filling over top, smooth with a rubber spatula to make even, and cover with foil and refrigerate.

Next, make the white chocolate mousse and refrigerate.

Make raspberry coulis and refrigerate.

When pie and mousse have been in the fridge for at least 2 hours, dollop mousse in blobs on top of peach filling and very carefully spread mousse to edges of pie. Cover with a plate and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Now make Fresh Peach Sorbet.

When ready to serve, drizzle raspberry coulis onto plate, carefully slice and plate pie, garnish with sorbet and more coulis. Enjoy!

Spicy Gingersnap Graham Pecan Crust by Mary Ann

1/3 cup pecans, toasted

5 gingersnaps

1 1/3 cup graham cracker crumbs

3 Tbls sugar

4 T butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place toasted pecans and gingersnaps in a food processor. Process until mixture is fine crumbs, but watch carefully so it doesn't get too moist. Tranfer to a bowl. Add graham cracker crumbs and sugar. Mix with hands until well combined. Add melted butter and mix until butter is mixed in. Press into a 9-inch glass pie plate and bake for 10 minutes. Place on wire rack and let cool completely before filling.

Fresh Peach Filling adapted from Nancy Morgan's Fresh Peach Pie

3 large peaches, peeled, pitted and chopped

1/2 cup water

1/2-3/4 cup sugar, depending on sweetness of peaches

3 T cornstarch

Combine all ingredients in a heavy bottomed saucepan. Mash and combine all ingredients. Place over medium high heat and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. This should take about 5 minutes. When thickening remove from heat.

Fresh Raspberry Layer by Mary Ann

2- 6 oz containers fresh raspberries

2T -4 T sugar, to taste

Place raspberries and sugar in a bowl. Mash well, but leave larger pieces of berry.

White Chocolate Mousse adapted from Daring Bakers Opera Cake Challenge (May 2008)

7 oz white baking chocolate

1 cup + 3 Tbls heavy whipping cream

Place white chocolate and 3 Tbls cream in a small heavy bottomed saucepan. Melt together over low heat. When chocolate is completely melted, remove from heat and let cool completely.

Whip remaining 1 cup heavy cream to soft peaks and gently fold into the white chocolate mixture. Refrigerature until slightly thickened, about 2 hours.

Raspberry Coulis by Dorie Greenspan

6 oz frozen raspberries, slightly thawed

3 Tbls water

2-3 Tbls sugar

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth. Strain mixture through sieve to remove all seeds. Refrigerate until ready to use.

Fresh Peach Sorbet Adapted from Anne Strawberry who Adapted from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

6-8 Fresh, Ripe Peaches (about 2 pounds)

1/3 Cup Sugar

2/3 Cup Water

4 Teaspoons Fresh Lemon Juice

Pinch of Salt

4 Tbls peach nectar

Slice, peel, and pit the peaches. Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until smooth. Taste, then add more lemon juice or sugar if desired.

Pour mixture into a 9x13-inch metal pan and freeze until solid, at least 3 hours.

Break mixture into chunks and puree in two batches in the food processor, adding 2 Tbls peach nectar to each batch. Make sure to process until smooth and creamy. Pack into a airtight container and freeze for at least 4 hours.