Blueberry-Lemon Pie

When my sister made my wedding cake, she left me with a ziploc bag of egg yolks, and told me to make something creative with them.  Time flew by after the wedding and I somehow had no time to make anything until yesterday, almost 4 weeks later.  I wasn't sure if the yolks could possibly still be good after so much time, but Coby and I both agreed that they smelled and looked ok so I decided to chance it.

When I went grocery shopping last week, blueberries were on sale 2 lbs for $5.  They are never anywhere near that cheap, so I bought 4 lbs!  I figured I would make a pie with them.  I also wanted to use the egg yolks to make a lemon pie, so I decided to try combining the two types of pie.  The two pies cook differently, so it took me some time to decide how to go about it.  Luckily, my hunches were right, and the pie came out absolutely perfect and delicious!

With a blueberry pie, you can cook the crust and the blueberries all together, but with a lemon pie, you have to blind-bake the crust.  Also, the lemon pie cooks for 30 minutes at 300, but the blueberry pie cooks for 20 minutes at 425 and then 30-40 more minutes at 350!  So, I decided to blind bake the crust, partially pre-cook the blueberries, and then assemble the pie and bake it at the specifications for the lemon pie.

Blueberry-Lemon Pie

The Crust

Instructions taken from Sally's Baking Addiction

(the crust needs to chill for at least 1 hour, and up to 48 hours.  I made my crust the day before)

(this recipe makes enough for a top and bottom crust, so you will have some leftover, perhaps for some mini blueberry pies)

2 cups all-purpose white flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

scant 1/4 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp salt

8 oz cold unsalted butter

~1/2 cup cold water

Mix together the dry ingredients.  Cut the butter into small pieces, then cut it into the dry ingredients with a pastry cutter.  When the mixture is crumbly and the butter pieces are as small as you can get them (I always think "pea sized"), add the cold water, a bit at a time.  Keep mixing until the dough comes together.  Divide the dough into 1/3 and 2/3 portions, wrap each portion in plastic wrap, and place in the refrigerator.  

Once sufficiently chilled, roll out the 2/3 portion to fit into a 9 inch pie plate. Crimp the edges, and cut off any extra dough.  Place a piece of parchment paper into the pie crust and fill with dry beans to help the crust hold its shape while baking.  Bake at 400 for 15 minutes, then remove the parchment paper/beans and bake 7 more minutes (until the bottom is just beginning to brown).  

The Lemon Filling

Recipe taken from Crazy for Crust

1 1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cup sugar

5 tbsp corn starch

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp lemon zest

1/2 tsp salt

4 large egg yolks

3 tbsp butter

Whisk together all ingredients except for the eggs and butter. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until thick and bubbly.  Pour half of the lemon mixture into the egg yolks, whisk quickly to avoid scrambling, then add the lemon-egg mixture back into the rest of the lemon mixture.  Bring to a gentle boil, cook 2 more minutes, then remove from heat and stir in butter until melted.  Pour into the bottom of the pie crust.

Somehow, I ended up with NO scrambled egg in my lemon mixture!  I'm going to credit that to the fact that Coby and I teamed up to mix the hot lemon mixture with the eggs so one of us could stir while the other was pouring, leaving no time for the eggs to sit still in the hot lemon mixture.  

The Blueberry Topping

Ingredient list aken from Simply Recipes and cut in half

3 cups fresh blueberries

1/2 tsp lemon zest

1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup sugar

dash of cinnamon

Place all ingredients in a saucepan and cook covered until the juice begins to come out of the blueberries.  You will want to stir every minute or so to check on them.  Then pour the blueberries over the lemon mixture.  

Bake the pie at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.  

Cool for 1 hour, then chill for 5 hours before enjoying!

Sweet Potato Cheese Ball

I'm sure it has been far too long since I made a food post.  But meals on a tight budget tend towards the unimaginative and unexciting. However, I wasn't going to let that budget get in the way of having yummy food at my annual New Year's Eve dinner party!  I made a bunch of pizzas because they are easy, cheap, and delicious.  And I decided I wanted to make a cheese ball for an appetizer, because I've never made one and it seemed like a good idea.  I turned to Google for inspiration, and found this recipe.  Of course I modified it.

Sweet Potato Cheese Ball

8 oz cream cheese

1 large sweet potato

garlic powder

mustard powder

honey

cashews

Let the cream cheese reach room temperature.  Boil the sweet potato, and then mash it.  I used a food processor to get the lumps out of the sweet potato, then I added the cream cheese, a shake or two of mustard powder, a very generous amount of garlic powder, and about a tablespoon of honey. Once it was all blended up, I scraped it into a container and put it in the fridge.  Hours later, I scooped it out onto wax paper and molded it into a ball.  That turned out to be a good plan, I was able to form the ball by manipulating the wax paper around the cheese, and kept my hands clean.  I put the wax paper encased ball into the fridge for another couple of hours.  Then, I removed it and rolled it in crushed cashews.  

It was ridiculously tasty.  There is still some left, I'm using it as a sandwich spread. 

Happy New Year!

Pumpkin Peach Muffins

(Original recipe calls for 1 1/2 c flour.  I put in 1/2 c wheat flour and 1 1/4 white flour before adding the peach.  I let it sit for a bit to draw some of the moisture out of the peach, then added more flour until the batter returned to the consistency it had before I added the peach.)

Chocolate-Covered Espresso Bean Cookies

1/2 stick butter

1/4 c vegetable oil

1/2 c brown sugar

1/4 c white sugar

1 egg

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/4 c whole wheat flour

1+ c white flour

1/3 c chocolate covered espresso beans

Beat butter, oil, and sugars together in a stand mixer.  Add the egg, salt, soda, and vanilla, mix well.  Incorporate the whole wheat flour, then the white flour.  Crush the espresso beans, then mix them in. 

Bake at 375 for 8-10 minutes.