Summer of Pies

I've always been more of a cook than a baker. Though I'll fess up to a wicked sweet tooth, I usually satisfy it with pints and pints of haagen dazs, trips to my favorite bakeries, or the occasional batch of cookies. I have one or two go-to cake and tart recipes for dinner parties, but 90% of my time in the kitchen has always been spent on the savory, not the sweet.

Until this summer, when inexplicable, and persistently, I've been making pies. Lemon, chocolate, banana, pecan, plum, and almond pies. One or two a week for over a month now. I'm super-busy with work, and finding time for everything else, yet I have plenty of time to make pies. I have no idea why I've been seized by a sudden pie furor, but I do know that my new habit is satisfying, summery, and very popular with my husband.

So here is my favorite of the pies to date: it is a black-bottomed, banana cream that I 'invented' by borrowing from three different recipes. The hidden layer of chocolate is dark and fairly bitter to balance the sweetness of bananas and a rich vanilla custard. After a few hours in the fridge, it makes for a cooling but very decadent slice that is the best cream pie I've ever tasted. It tastes of sunshine and happiness and the summer of pies.

Banana Cream Pie

1 1/2 C flour
1 T sugar
1/2 t salt
1/4 t baking powder
1/3 C unsalted butter, cold
1/4 C cold water
2 t apple cider vinegar

Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in the food processor. Add the butter, one tablespoon at a time until it is all cut into the dry ingredients. Slowly pour in water and cider vinegar until the dough just comes together. Remove from processor and flatten the dough into a disk. Wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Place a large piece of parchment paper on a clean work surface, and preheat the oven to 375°. Unwrap the dough and place it on the parchment paper. Roll it out to a 12-inch circle. Lift the parchment paper to flip the crust into a 9 inch pie plate. Tuck in and trim the edges. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until the edges are crisp and golden brown. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before using.

1/2 C whipping cream
1 T unsalted butter
4 oz bittersweet chocolate
1/2 t vanilla

4 bananas

1/2 C sugar
1/3 C cornstarch
1/4 t salt
1 1/2 C whipping cream
1 1/2 C whole milk
3 large egg yolks
2 t vanilla
2 T (1/4 stick) unsalted butter


Combine whipping cream, butter, chocolate and vanilla in a medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring frequently, until chocolate is melted and well-mixed. While chocolate is melting, slice bananas into 1-inch discs. Pour melted chocolate into bottom of the prepared pie crust. Press the slices of banana into the chocolate, spreading evenly over the bottom of the pie. If you have too many banana slices, spread the extra evenly in a second layer. Place the half-full pie in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the custard. Whisk sugar, cornstarch, and salt in heavy medium saucepan to blend. Gradually whisk in whipping cream and whole milk, then egg yolks and vanilla. Whisk over medium-high heat until the custard thickens and boils, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in unsalted butter. Allow the custard to cool for about 10 minutes, or until the chocolate has loosely set. Stir the custard to loosen, and pour it over the bananas, spreading evenly.

Chill banana cream pie until filling is set, about 4-6 hours. Top with lightly sweetened whipped cream (optional) before serving.

Photos via flickr.

I Scream, You Scream

Remember the feeling the ice cream truck brought when you were a kid? Ice cream has always been one of my favorite foods, and I would get excited as soon as I heard the music of the truck turning on to my block, heralding a sticky sweet treat to liven up hot summer days...

Adulthood, and a couple of trips to Italy have severely diminished my enjoyment of the good old-fashioned ice cream truck. Soft-serve and creamsicles just don't cut it anymore. But adulthood brings special joys of its own. Like the Van Leeuwen's ice cream truck:

If you're sauntering through Soho, Chelsea, or one of its other haunts and happen to see this magical vehicle parked by the side of the road, run--do not walk--to get in line. Van Leeuwen's is the best of both worlds: a refined sweet treat that will brighten up even the most grown-up of days. I highly recommend the earl grey ice cream. And the ginger. And the cinnamon. And the strawberry. These very adult flavors are oh-so-good they will make you feel like:

Photos via unknown, van leeuwen, bits of beauty.

Tuesday Macarons

It's 4 o'clock on a rainy New York Tuesday, I'm on my fourth pot of tea, and craving something sweet and crispy to go with. For the record, I discovered macarons a few years ago while living in Brussels and I was instantly in love. These aren't to be confused with their chewy coconut-filled macaroon cousins, but rather they're the impossibly light and crispy meringue-type French cookies that sandwich together silky creams and ganaches in a rainbow assortment of flavors and colors.

Suddenly and subtly macarons have been taking New York by storm. Dessert shops across the city have added them to their menus, and now you can even have them delivered! Some have billed macarons as New York's next dessert fetish (after cupcakes)....which leaves me wondering about the next step: homemade macarons.
Apart from a great birthday experiment last year, in which my valiant husband did battle with two bags of pistachios and a veritable mound of meringue (with delicious, but apparently time-consuming results), my kitchen has never ever seen a macaron, namely because (full disclosure): I've long been afraid to try making macarons myself. For me, they fall into that category of finicky and frustrating French pastry that requires levels of skill and patience that I'm not entirely sure I have. I can tackle an authentic mousse au chocolat or tarte tatin with confidence and enthusiasm, but something about baking whipped egg whites just intimidates me.

The author of one of my favorite recipe blogs, canelle et vanille makes it sound easy, and look gorgeous, but I'm not entirely sure I'm convinced. Which brings me back to 4 o'clock, Tuesday: a lazy rainy day and a familiar sweet-tooth craving and I've just discovered I have all the ingredients I need for chocolate and salted peanut butter macarons. So the question is: do I dare?

Photos via canelle et vanille.

Saturday Delights

Sunshine and cupcakes and flowers, oh my! The Brooklyn Botanic Garden is filled with blooms, and although it was packed this weekend I thoroughly enjoyed my first official in-person cherry blossom viewing. With dozens of trees and hundreds of blossoms, there's more than enough marvel to share with the masses! I also discovered that I love wisteria - the little violet drops hanging like bells from so many trees and shrubs throughout the garden. And the Japanese hill and pond garden, always my favorite, looked especially colorful and lush in full spring bloom! As an urban girl, it's nice to be reminded of the pure and simple joy of spending an afternoon sitting on a bench surrounded by sunshine and flowers with the boy you love....

Especially when that boy takes you for cupcakes afterward! We stopped by Chikalicious Dessert Bar on the way home to sample the wares and we were delighted by small, fluffy cupcakes with concentrated raspberry and chocolate flavor. Though they didn't top my NYC favorites, the cupcakes at Chikalicious are fresh and lovely with unusually soft and creamy frostings. Definitely worth stopping if you're in the neighborhood, or looking for a little treat to top off a perfect day!

Lady Mmmmmm.....

What better way to cap off a lovely gray afternoon of gallery browsing and window shopping than a trip to Lady M? Judging by the crowd today, this hidden Upper East Side gem has finally earned a much-deserved following, and it's no wonder: the Cake Boutique on E. 78th street pairs an elegant and light-filled modern interior with delectable traditional French pastries and teas. I was introduced to Lady M by a very handsome boy, just a week or so after we started dating....and about a year later, we were married. Coincidence? Or cake?

Though tempted by the gorgeous gâteau au chocolat, miroir caramel, choux à la creme, tartes aux fruits....today he and I went with our old standby: the signature mille crêpes cake. Layers of fluffly, white, lightly sweetened cream are sandwiched between at least twenty paper-thin, perfectly airy, eggy crepes with an oh-so-slight patina of carmelization over the top. Although I'm not usually such a sucker for vanilla sweets, this one is like biting into layers of French heaven.