Baking lessons frm 'Pie Mama'

Can she bake a cherry pie, Billy boy, Billy boy? Can she bake a cherry pie, charming Billy? She can bake a cherry pie, quick's the cat can wink his eye. She's a young girl and cannot leave her mother.

— From a folk song with roots in 19th-century England

Be careful about the songs you sing to young children. Those ditties can fill young heads with notions buried deep in the subconscious.

Mom sang the "Billy boy" song to me on an almost daily basis in my early childhood. The lyrics of the old tune posed a question that seemed very important to my young, impressionable noggin.

Can she — or can't she — make a pie? A good match hinges on that one particular skill.

So is it any wonder that I set out at an early age to learn pie-making skills? I started making our family's Thanksgiving pies in my early teens. I think the song had something to do with it, but after I honed my skills, I found great pleasure in the process. I loved the sculpting aspects of turning a blob of dough into a beautifully crimped shell. There was joy to be found in the smell of freshly baked filling and the irresistible taste of pie slathered with whipped cream.

Over the years, I've had my share of pie pupils. Friends, neighbors, cooking-school students, as well as my daughters, have been exposed to my version of Pie 101. Some would come to call me "Pie Mama."

So when my friend, Roxanne Hack, asked for a pie lesson, I eagerly jumped at the chance. Roxanne is a newspaper Web editor and all-around techno whiz. She has helped me untangle more than a few computer dilemmas, a skill set that should be memorialized in song if there ever was one.

But, unlike my former pupils, Roxanne would take her tutorial in front of a video camera. We'd maneuver dough and prepare fillings while taping how-to videos for the Web.

Mix and roll. Cut, pinch and flute.

Weeks ahead, I searched out and tested some new recipes from cookbooks and cooking magazines. I came up with three that I adore. First, a pumpkin pie in which the filling is augmented with mascarpone, a luscious Italian cream cheese. The creamy cheese brings a subtle lightness to the texture and adds a buttery rich flavor. Mascarpone is also added to the whipping cream to make a delectable topping at serving time.

Second, a pecan pie with a thin layer of melted 60 percent cacao chocolate layered between crust and nut filling. The bittersweet chocolate has an assertive taste that balances nicely with the nuts and sweet, syrupy filling.

And third, some little lemon curd tartlets made with shells fashioned from oh-so-simple cream cheese pastry. The pucker-producing treats are small — two-bite size — and would be delicious served next to a nice slab of holiday pie.

So under the lights, we worked our way through two pies and a dozen tartlets. We made crusts from scratch for the pumpkin pie and lemon tartlets in the food processor, a technique that makes dough production fast and foolproof. For the Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie, we took an even faster approach and used store-bought, refrigerated pie crusts (the kind you simply unroll and slam into a pie pan).

I have my suspicions about whether Roxanne truly was a pie novice. Her crimping looked downright professional. But, in any event, we certainly had fun in the process and made holiday pies that would bring praises from good old Billy boy and his questioning clan.

Cook's note: In these recipes, all eggs are large; sugar that isn't specified as brown sugar or powdered sugar is granulated sugar. Vanilla extract is pure vanilla extract not imitation vanilla.

• Lemon Curd Tartlets

Yield: 24

For cream cheese dough:

11⁄4 cups all-purpose flour

1⁄3 cup powdered sugar

1⁄4 teaspoon baking powder

1⁄8 teaspoon salt

1⁄2 cup (1 stick) cold butter, cut into 8 pieces

One (3-ounce) package cream cheese, cut into 1⁄2-inch chunks and frozen 30 minutes

1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For lemon curd filling:

1 egg

4 egg yolks

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar

1⁄2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest

Pinch of salt

6 tablespoons (3⁄4 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 6 pieces

Garnish: small fresh mint leaves, spearmint preferred

Cook's notes: I tried baking the tart shells without the foil squares and weights. They puffed up a little, producing shells that wouldn't hold as much lemon curd, but they were perfectly acceptable if you are short on time.

Procedure

Prepare dough: In bowl of food processor, combine flour, powdered sugar, baking powder and salt; process a few seconds until blended. Sprinkle butter and cream cheese pieces in mixture and pulse about 18 times, until butter pieces are size of peas and mixture resembles coarse meal. In small bowl, whisk egg yolk and vanilla with fork. Add mixture to processor and pulse just until dough starts to come together (don't let it form a ball around the blade).

Turn dough out onto work surface and gently press it into a disk. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least one hour, or until firm (or up to two days).

Prepare filling: Set fine-mesh sieve over medium bowl and set aside. In medium-sized heavy nonreactive saucepan, whisk together the egg, yolks and sugar until blended. Stir in lemon juice and zest, salt and butter; cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until mixture thickens, seven to 10 minutes (do not let mixture boil or it will curdle). Immediately strain mixture through sieve, pressing it through with rubber spatula. Cover bowl and refrigerate until chilled, about one hour.

Bake crusts: Position oven rack in center and preheat to 400 degrees. Coat two 12-cup miniature muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray.

Cut out 24 (2-inch) squares of aluminum foil (see cook's notes).

Remove dough from refrigerator and divide in half. Divide each half into 12 equal portions. Shape each portion into ball. Place one ball in each muffin cup and press down into the center of the ball with knuckle of your index finger to form an indentation, then press the dough up the sides of the cup to its rim. The cups should be completely lined with dough. Prick bottom of each crust with a fork. Line each crust with one of the foil squares and fill with a few pie weights, dried beans or raw rice.

Bake crusts for 10 minutes. Transfer muffin pans to a wire rack; reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Remove foil and weights from crusts and bake crusts for another seven to nine minutes or until golden brown around the edges. Set muffin pans on wire rack and cool completely.

Scrape chilled lemon curd into pastry bag filled with medium star tip. Pipe a generous rosette of lemon curd into each crust. Garnish each with a mint leaf. Serve immediately or chill until serving time. Store in an airtight container in refrigerator up to one day.

• • •

This delectable pie can be baked one day ahead and chilled, uncovered, until cool, then covered. Reheat in a 350-degree oven until warm, about 10 minutes.

• Bittersweet Chocolate Pecan Pie

Yield: Eight to 10 servings

1 (31⁄2- to 4-ounces (60 percent to 70 percent cacao) bittersweet chocolate bar, finely chopped

1 (9-inch) unbaked pie crust, made from scratch or store-bought refrigerated crust

2 cups (7 ounces) pecan halves, toasted, cooled; see cook's notes

3 eggs

1⁄3 cup light brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

3⁄4 cup dark corn syrup

For serving: lightly sweetened whipped cream

Cook's notes: To toast nuts, place in single layer on rimmed baking sheet and place in 350-degree oven about five minutes, or until nuts are lightly browned and a little crisp. Cool. And, to be honest, I have made this pie without toasting the nuts. It is still delicious.

Procedure

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat to 375 degrees.

Melt chocolate in metal bowl over barely simmering water, stirring. Remove from heat. Chocolate should be melted but not hot. When you look at it in the pan, it may not appear to be melted because chocolate keeps its shape. Stir it to see if it has melted.

Spread chocolate over bottom of dough. Set aside for chocolate to harden (or slip it in the refrigerator to speed up the process). Cover chocolate with pecans.

In large bowl, whisk eggs, brown sugar, vanilla and salt. Add corn syrup and whisk to combine. Pour over pecans. Bake until filling is puffed and crust is golden, 50 to 60 minutes (if pie is browning too fast after 30 minutes, loosely cover with foil or cover with pie ring). Cool pie on rack to warm or room temperature. Serve with whipped cream.

• • •

The mascarpone cheese, an Italian-style cream cheese, gives this pumpkin filling an irresistible flavor and a somewhat lighter texture. Serve it with whipped cream that has been augmented with a small portion of mascarpone and vanilla. My local supermarket (which happens to be an Albertson's) carries mascarpone in 8-ounce tubs. Markets such as Trader Joe's, Gelson's, Whole Foods and Bristol Farms also carry it.

• Pumpkin Mascarpone Pie

Yield: Eight to 10 servings

1 cup canned pure pumpkin purée

1 cup packed light (golden) brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground dried ginger

1⁄2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1⁄4 teaspoon ground cloves

1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄4 teaspoon salt

1 (8-ounce) container mascarpone cheese

1 (9-inch) pie crust, either made from scratch or from prepared Ready Crust sheet

For topping:

1 cup chilled whipping cream

1⁄4 cup cold mascarpone cheese

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1⁄8 teaspoon salt

Procedure

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using an electric mixer, beat pumpkin and sugar in large bowl until well blended. Add eggs and next seven ingredients; beat until blended. Add mascarpone cheese and beat just until mixture is smooth. Gently pour mixture into 9-inch pie crust.

Bake pie until custard is set, about 55 minutes. Place on cooling rack and cool. Serve at room temperature. Can be made one day ahead (tent cooled pie with foil and chill).

Prepare topping: In electric mixer, beat all topping ingredients on medium-high speed until soft peaks form.

To serve, cut pie into wedges and top with desired amount of topping.