Mini Mascarpone Pumpkin Pies

 I've been wanting to make mini pumpkin pies for a while and after  picking up a tub of mascarpone at a great price (that stuff is super expensive!) and looking for inspiration on what to do with it I stumbled upon this recipe which is fantastic.

For the crust I used my trusty recipe, pie pastry is the easiest thing in the world to do, if you're not making your own crust I HIGHLY recommend it.  There is no waiting around for butter to thaw or anything, it's just cold butter right out of the fridge, cut it into small cubes, assemble your ingredients and roll up your sleeves. 

Pie Pastry: 

- 1 cup cold butter cut into small cubes using a knife. 

Put the butter in a large bowl. 

In another bowl mix: 

- 2 1/2 cups flour

- 1 tsp salt

- 1/8 tsp baking powder (you can leave this out if you want a less "fluffy" pastry) 

Now assemble the wet ingredients: 

- 2 tbsp lemon juice (some people use vinegar too, I haven't tried it) 

- 1/4 cup ice water (or mix half milk in there, or do full cold milk, it yields a more tender crust)

Have another 1/4 cup of liquid on standby because you may need more and only use up to 1/2 cup in full of liquid. 

Add the flour mix to the butter and work with hands until mixture resembles wet sand or butter is incorporated well and no more than a small pie size. 

Add liquid and press dough together with hands and press down in the bowl to form a "dough" .. mold it into a patty and wrap with plastic. 

Set in the fridge until ready to use.  Pastry freezes perfectly too!  Any leftovers just wrap it well in plastic or put it in a zip lock bag and throw it in the freezer for future use. 

Filling: 

This recipe makes enough for 1 large pumpkin pie but I had alot of filling left when making the small pies so maybe half the recipe for the filling, or double the pastry if you want to make 2 muffin pans of mini pies (24) 

filling

1 cup canned pure pumpkin

1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 8-ounce container mascarpone cheese

Beat pumpkin and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and next 7 ingredients and beat until blended. Add mascarpone cheese and beat just until mixture is smooth. Transfer filling to prepared crust.

For instructions on filling the cupcake tins with pie crust refer to my older mini cherry pies post here with full photo sequence on how I went about it.

There is no need to cover the pies so just chill the pan with pastry cups for 10 minutes or so in the freezer and then fill with pie filling and bake.  

I baked at 350-375ish until pastry was done, about 30 minutes or so. 

For non pumpkin lovers I threw some little applies pies in between ^_^

Enjoy!

Mini Cherry Pies II

Here is another batch of those yummy cherry pies. Cherries are still in the supermarkets so I thought I'd pick up another bag and make more.

Here is the original recipe

This time around I learned a few things like doubling the pie dough pastry recipe will guarantee that you get a dozen of these and you'll have extra pastry to put away in the freezer.

Also they baked in my oven for 30 mins on 375 F and turn out perfect.

I didn't do any lattice work or anything but used the back of the piping tips (different sizes) and cut out circles then decorated the pies with those like petals tucking them each under the next.

Give it a try! :)

Mini Cherry Pies

If pies are the new cupcake then these mini cherry pies can rival any cupcakes in the cuteness category and they're 100% home-made and so delicious!

Start with the Pate Brisee, I had leftover from the other day's apple marzipan galette, Pie dough is easily made ahead of time, frozen and left to thaw in the fridge overnight for convenient use.

Martha Stewart's recipe is one of my favourites, however I've altered it slightly below:

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

1/4 cup ice water, plus more if needed

1 tsp lemon juice (mixed into the ice water)

Directions

In the bowl of a food processor, combine flour and salt; pulse to combine. Add butter, and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender or use tips of fingers to rub the butter and flour together, working quickly as not to warm up the ingredients .)

With machine running, add (lemony) ice water through feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until dough holds together without being wet or sticky. Do not process more than 30 seconds. Test by squeezing a small amount of dough together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Shape into flattened disk. Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. The dough can be frozen for up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using.

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With the last of the season cherries I picked up the rest was easy, pitting was the most fun using the cool technique I learned recently and used on my cherry dumplings here.

I think this is probably one of the most useful and exciting tips I've ever learned because before this I would avoid cherries, using a parring knife to peel the flesh around the pit was not fun at all!

 I double the recipe of pie dough above and make 2 flattened disks to refrigerate then I make pie filling using 2 bags of cherries as directed below:

Doubling the pie dough pastry should make about 12 mini (covered) pies with some cherry filling leftover.
OR you can make about 24 open face  tart like pies (like here)  with all the filling.


An alternate and easier design to do for covered pies is something like this 





Cherry pie filling:

-2 bags of cherries (about 80 cherries, or 2 lbs of cherries)

Remove stems, wash, and using a paring knife cut an X in the bottom of each one.

Doing this assembly style is best. Wash, then begin cutting them and moving them into another bowl.

Once finished all, use a chopstick to push through the top of the cherry (where the stem was) to remove the seed/pit. Once pitted add them to a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Add:
- 1/2 cup sugar
- Juice of half a lemon
- 2 tbsp water

Bring to a boil and cook on medium low for about 15 minutes.

Mix together in a small bowl the following ingredients:

- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp ice water

Bring the cherry filling to a boil again and quickly mix in the cornstarch mixture.

Stir the cornstach mixture into the cherries and you'll see it thicken immediately.  Remove from heat and place the filling in another bowl to cool. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on top of the cherries to avoid a seal forming on the top.

Allow to cool completely then refrigerate until ready to use.

Ok so these little pies were made right in the cupcake pan.. no greasing or anything required. Just cut the dough and put it straight in.

The filling should be cool of course and you can begin your assembly creating any type of design you like. Here I made three different designs ...

Use some eggwash to create a nice sheen on the little pies before baking..

Bake between at 375 for 30 mins or so until the pastry is crispy and golden browned where it touches the pan.