Everyone Gets Their Own Pie This Year

Every holiday, someone wants apple, maybe somebody else wants pumpkin, and someone always ends up with a slice they didn't want. So this year, everyone gets their own. Hi, I'm Gemma Stafford, a professional chef from Ireland with over 20 years experience. And today I'm going to show you how to make three personalized pies, a classic apple pie, a traditional pumpkin tart, and a chocolate and pecan combo that will make your head spin. The first pie we're gonna start out with is one of the most popular recipes on my website this time of year. And it's my best ever apple pie. This is what we have in Ireland. It's a very simple apple pie filling. It's really delicious. So to make these little pies, I have these little mini pie pans, they're really handy, I'm going to link where I got them. And they're inexpensive. For the pastry, I'm going to use my new food processor vanilla pie crust. This is a fantastic recipe because you make it in the food processor so you do not need to touch it with your hands. You make it really fast and it's great. And with the extra vanilla in the crust, it really kind of takes your pie game to a whole other level. So for the three pies I'm going to make, I actually just made one recipe for my vanilla pie crust. This is just a small bit of dough that I'm going to roll out here. And this is what I'm going to line my pie My pie pan width. The lovely thing about making small little pies is that you're not maneuvering big pieces of pastry so it's actually easier to work your dough and to kind of have your pie looking good in the end. Pastry making can be really stressful but it doesn't have to be, it's actually easy to make especially if you do it in the food processor. So line your little pie pan with your pastry, leave some overlap because we are going to do a little lattice on top and my Professional chef's secret is use a scissors to go around so you kind of get a uniformed look. I have a second piece of pastry here that is going to be the lattice for on top. I'm going to just use, you can use a pizza cutter, just cut yourself some strips. Make sure they're not too thin so they're manageable and easy to work with. Just like this. And just in case you're one of those people who cringe when I said the word lattice, I'm going to show you a really easy way to do it and it does not involve weaving. There we go. That's our pastry ready to go. So now our pastry is ready, we're going to make the filling. And you want to cube your apples nice and small because this is a small little pie and the smaller they are, the faster they cook. I like to use Granny Smith. You can use Bramley apples what we use commonly in Ireland and in England. I think it's a good cooking apple also like a Honeycrisp is a good cooking apple. Here I have a little bit of corn flour, a little bit of brown sugar, just to sweeten the apple and just make it kind of have those caramelly tones, a little pinch of cinnamon, just for a bit of warmth, just a small Small little bit and some vanilla extract if you have it just to brighten up those flavors. Then give that a mix together. The cornstarch in there its job is to thicken the juices that come out of the pie. Once your filling is mixed, just pile the apples into the crust. Because the apples cook down quite a lot, I like to pile them kind of high. Now for the lattice. Let's not complicate things here. Okay, we're going to keep it really easy. Get those long pieces, place them in the middle over just like this. Give them a little bit of space in between but not too much. The more space you give them, the more steam that escapes and we need some of that steam in there to bake those apples well. So just leave a few spaces in between. When you get to the crust, just pinch the The lattice into the pastry. And then we're going to go over the other side. So again, with the long pieces in the middle. So as you can see, I'm not doing a traditional weave, I'm laying one layer on the bottom and the other layer on top and you still get the exact same effect. Without the hardship. Lay on those pieces all the way around and we are going to tidy up the edge now in a sec once we get all our pieces of pastry on. So what you want to do is just press with your fingers to combine the layers of pastry together and then we're going to go a little trim around the outside and what I'm going to do is just shape it kind of using the rim of the pan to go around To kind of seal it just like that. Give it a nice round finish. And seal the pie crust. Then lastly, you want to egg wash. It's so important. to egg wash pie crust because if you don't it ends up being kind of like a dusty brown color but when you egg wash it and you egg wash it correctly, it becomes beautiful shiny golden brown with the lattice it can be a little bit tricky so just make sure don't be afraid to get in there and get in between the spots and all around because you can always tell when somebody Somebody forgot a little bit of egg wash in a certain spot. Beautiful. The perfect apple pie for one. It's so cute, but so much easier to do that decoration on a little mini pie. And now one person gets to enjoy it, or two if they feel like sharing. That's it, it looks fantastic. Now it's time to go into the oven. Although the pies are smaller, they still take quite some time to bake. So bake it at 375 degrees Fahrenheit 190 degrees Celsius for roughly Roughly 35 to 40 minutes until it's golden brown and the apples are bubbling on the inside. Just as I hoped the lattice stayed intact and the pastry is a beautiful golden brown on top. And I can smell those baked apples. You can't go wrong with a freshly baked apple pie during the holiday season. The apples are tender and sweet on the inside and has a beautiful flaky buttery pastry on the outside. It's comforting, it's warm, it's familiar and with a dollop of cream on top, it's possibly the best dessert for a cold night. So when it comes to pumpkin pie, I only ever eat it once a year, sometimes I only want one little slice. So this is perfect for me, we are going to make a small version of my best ever pumpkin pie. This pie is so popular on my website, October, November, December. So to make a little mini one in no time with just a few ingredients is my ideal version of a holiday pie. So again, I have my vanilla pastry, if you want you can also use store bought pie crust, just make sure that you buy good quality because it really varies out there Pie crust is so easy to make at home, that's what I prefer to do. Now again roll out your pastry, bigger than your pan, lift it in gently. When it comes to rolling pastry, no matter what size your pie, always be careful not to roll it too thin, because sometimes pastry is my favorite part of the pie. I'm going to go again then with my scissors, giving us that little lip around the outside, giving us something to work with, because we're gonna zhuzh up this pie a little bit. You're going to see that now in a minute. So we want this lip because I want to embellish it a little bit and even though it's small I still want it to make it look really special no matter how many people are eating it. So with a little bit of excess pastry I kept it, with some of my fall cutters I cut out a few leaves to be able to place them on top and I like to do just little lines to make it really look like a leaf. Because often with pumpkin pies sometimes they can taste the same but we do eat with our eyes so when you see something like this being presented. You're not going to want to pass it. I mean, seriously, just look at how cute they are. Super cute. You just need a little bit of pastry. And if you don't have a leaf cutter, just use whatever even just use some circles and lay it around the rim. So for the filling, I love this because you just mix everything together by hand. We're going to start out with some pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling because that already has eggs and thickeners and sweeteners and you want just pure pumpkin puree. You can also use a squash puree or even sweet potato. Sweet potato pie is actually very good. An egg yolk. This is going to be what sets our filling. We have some sugar, a little bit of maple syrup. This is the good stuff. Okay, it's not pancake syrup. It's the stuff that you have in the fridge used for Saturday mornings. It's really good quality. It's a lovely natural sugar and it just kind of adds a warmth to your pie filling. Here we have a little bit of pumpkin pie spice and a smidge of salt and a little bit of evaporated milk. Around the holiday season, when you have these ingredients left over, you've got a little bit of pie crust, you happen to have half a tin of pumpkin puree, this is what those recipes are for. It's perfect to use those up. Often when I bake with pumpkin puree, I'll have to put a little bit in the freezer and you can feel free to use defrosted pumpkin puree. Just make sure if there's any excess water, drain it off because it can get a little bit watery. Lovely. Give it a little whisk until it's all combined and then into our prepared crust. So as you can see, I really filled this up with a lot of filling for the pumpkin pie. When it bakes it kind of sinks a little bit. So that's why I'm not afraid to go almost to the top. Now the last thing we want to do is we're going to egg wash the pastry around the sides. This is not just for color, but it's really important because we are going to be laying on our embellishments, egg wash your pastry, and then lay it on top of your pie crust. Any way you want, totally fine. Beautiful, nothing more needs to be done. I mean, you can't improve on perfection, right? It looks so sweet. This now is ready to go into the oven. So bake your pumpkin pie same temperature 375 degrees Fahrenheit 190 degrees Celsius and it's going to take around 20 to 25 minutes to bake what we're looking for is the same thing that we look for in a big pie, which is set around the outside but a little bit of a jiggle in the middle When you still have that jiggle, it's a good sign, take it out. I think this might be the sweetest little pumpkin pie I've ever seen, especially with those little embellishments on top. This one is definitely on my holiday pie list. I only ever have pumpkin pie once a year so this guy is for me. It has a silky, warmly spiced custard on the inside and tender pastry on the outside. You have the lovely contrast of texture but also completely different flavors. And if you're that person who only likes a little bit of pumpkin pie during the holiday season, this guy has your name all over it. So we're ending on a high note, even though it's the holiday season, you cannot go wrong with a chocolate pie. This is one of my favorites and also one of my husband's Kevin's. It is a pecan fudge pie. It's like a brownie pie with pecans on top. It's so delicious. So here I have another little piece of pastry. When you're rolling out your pastry, make sure it's not cold from the fridge. It just makes it harder to work with. And it also can make it kind of brittle, press it into the lining of your tin, like so and then again, Again, we're gonna go with our scissors. And tidy up our edges, leaving us a little bit of something to work with, because as we all know, the pastry can shrink when it goes into the oven, so you want to make sure it still looks good coming out. I'm just going to take a little fork, I'm just going to press around the edges here, just to make it stand out in its own right. And then feel free just to round it out a little bit with your hands. Now fudge pie filling, again, simply one bowl, mixing by hand. In we go with some butter, nope, it's not coming out. In we go with some butter take two, and some chopped bittersweet chocolate. I like to use bar not chocolate chips. I like to use bittersweet because you get sweetness and you get the bitterness, semi sweet chocolate is a little bit too sweet for me. So I think this is a really lovely combo and it just gives you like extra richness and also that bitterness that you get from chocolate is not a bad thing. It's actually very delicious. Just gently melt those two ingredients together. It's quickest in the microwave. That's why it's nice to chop the chocolate nice and small so it melts quickly. Now into this brown sugar, dark brown sugar because dark brown sugar has extra flavor. Light is okay too. With the dark brown you get like extra molasses and caramel and then also extra moisture. A little bit of salt because it is a fudge filling after all. Vanilla, my favorite part of a brownie. And then a little bit of flour as the thickener. And an egg. Room temperature egg so it just kind of combines so much better, especially if your chocolate's a little bit warm. You don't want cooked egg on top of the chocolate mixture. And then just with a hand whisk, whisk them all together until smooth. You don't want any sugary lumps in there. Here we go, how's that looking? Good. There we go. Lovely. That's our filling and I'm just going to pour it into our pie crust. Just like the pumpkin, don't be afraid to fill it up because the filling will puff and then it will fall down again. And you do want a nice thick filling. Then just to finish it off, we're going to put some pecan halves on top. So a few around the outside. And the last thing we're going to do is just egg wash the pie crust. In hindsight, I would have done this before I put in the filling. But here we are. But when you're making your pie, don't make the same mistake I did egg wash it, get it nice and covered. So it gets golden brown all over, then pour in your filling. Okay, another one ready for the oven. Fantastic. Pecan fudge brownie, same deal, same temperature, 375 degrees Fahrenheit, 190 degrees Celsius. This guy because you want to have a little bit of a jiggle in the middle just like the pumpkin, you're talking 20 to 25 minutes. Don't be afraid to leave it a little bit soft in the middle so you get a nice gooey center when you're eating it. While our pies are baking, it's time to answer some bowl baking hotline questions. Somebody asked, can I bake small batch pies all together? Yes, you absolutely can. The temperature is the same for all of them, but the baking time is different. So watch for those telltale signs that I told you about the jiggle in the middle, not too brown, those kinds of things for each pie. It's different. Apples want to be bubbling, things like that. Can I prepare the pies ahead? Yes, you absolutely can. And I would actually recommend that you do that. You can do it 24 hours in the fridge, no problem, then just take them out, put them into the oven, bake them as normal. Last one, how do I make sure that my pumpkin pie doesn't crack? And the answer is, unfortunately, you can't even when you bake them in low temperatures for a longer amount of time, they can still crack, it's just in the nature of it because it's a custard. So and still wait for that jiggle in the middle. If they overbake sometimes that's when you can get the crack. So just make sure you don't overbake it. The smell of chocolate is filling my kitchen, and I definitely know this is done because I can see a little bit of softness in the middle. This pecan fudge pie might be the underdog on your table this holiday season. It has a rich, chocolatey, chewy fudge center with beautiful toasted pecans on top. It's rich, it's indulgent, it's bitter, it really hits the spot when you're indulging over the holiday season. When creating these pies, I really tried to come up with a flavor for everyone. And I think apple, pumpkin and chocolate are really flavors that you cannot go wrong with during the holiday season. They take a few ingredients, they can be whipped up in under half an hour and they bake in no time. So the big takeaway from this video is you can make your own pie, you don't have to share and no leftovers, the perfect situation. Happy holidays, and I'll see you back here again really soon for more Bigger Bolder Baking.