I couldn't live with my grammer typo in the title

michaelp

Chess pie (really old fashioned but Larva #2 demands it)

anything with chocolate

Yeah, yeah, I know it contains Cool Whip and uses a ready made crust but if you want one with mass appeal, this should do it.

FIVE MINUTE RASPBERRY PIE

35 large marshmallows (1 bag)
1/2 cup milk
1 package (10 oz.) frozen raspberries in syrup
1 (8 to 10 oz.) carton Cool Whip, thawed
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (optional but nice)
2 purchased chocolate crumb crusts (the dark choc. Oreo ones work best)

In a large microwave-safe bowl, combine marshmallows and milk. Cook on High for 1 to 2 minutes; stir until smooth. Stir in raspberries. Fold in whipped topping and chocolate chips. Pour into crusts. Refrigerate or freeze until filling is stiff.

Notes: You can save a couple of the raspberries to garnish the tops of the pies. Frozen strawberries can be substituted.

Can be wrapped tightly and frozen. Just thaw in refrigerator and hour before serving.

If youre feeling decadent, only get one crust and pile the filling a lot higher, then eat the rest of the filling immediately.

My eyes skipped right over the typo. I have had a lot of luck with mixed fruit pies, by luck I mean compliments. The one that gets the most compliments is peach raspberry. I also have made maple pecan pie that everyone liked because it was unusual. Really, the secret to good pie is the crust, which has been discussed on a couple of other threads here. What fruit is in season where you live? I made caramel apple pie one year for Christmas, that was great. Also sour cream apple with a dutch crumb crust. I also think people like creamy pies too. Nothing beats a good fresh fruit pie, but the fruit has to be in season. Cherry pie can't be beat but you have to have fresh PIE cherries to make it. Some kind of pie with a cream layer and a fruit layer would be fab, I think I have had something like that some time in my life.
Pie is my favorite dessert, but I favor fruit or nut pies, not the creamy ones. If I want cream I can add it whipped or iced.

Everyone seems to like this one.

Enough filling to make two pies/tarts

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

White Chocolate Cream cheese Raspberry Tart
===========================================

Shortbread Tart Pastry
======================

1 cup butter, room temperature

1/2 cup Icing sugar (powdered sugar)

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

Place the flour and icing sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Cut the butter into pieces and add to the bowl. Using the pulse function process the mixture until it forms a ball.

White Chocolate Cream Cheese Filling

8 ounces white chocolate melted
(I melt in the microwave on medium low heat in 20 to 30 second intervals) Stir in between. Chocolate should not be hot.

8 ounces cream cheese room temperature
2 large eggs
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 white sugar
2 to 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Fresh Raspberries

(enough filling for two pies)

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Prepare the crust first.

Divide dough into 4 equal pieces and place in the bottom of a tart pan with
removeable bottom. Using your fingers pat the dough evenly along the sides
and bottom of the pan. Prick with a fork and put in the freezer for 15
minutes. Prick again. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is
golden. Check after the first 6 or 7 minutes and if the pastry is rising
up, flatten gently with a fork. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack.

Lower the temperature to 350°F

Filling

Beat the cream cheese with sugar until soft and creamy. Add the eggs and
continue to beat. Beat in melted white chocolate,cream and vanilla.

Decorate tart shell with raspberries. Slowly pour the cream cheese filling
around the berries. Bake for approximately 25 to 30 minutes or until the filling is set.

Let cool on rack. May be decorated with melted chocolate.

How about an apple pie with a cheese pastry at a top crust?
I won't even think of giving you a recipe for apple pie, and the cheese pastry is just grated cheddar cheese, half as much butter as cheese and enough flour to be able to roll it out.
Linda C

I made a pear & raspberry galette with a balsamic vinegar sauce from Alton Brown for our one non-traditional Thanksgiving dessert this year. Everyone who had room for dessert liked it. I used raspberries instead of the listed blueberries because I had them in my freezer and I didn't put the pound cake in the middle. There's cornmeal in the crust which may or may not be for you. The method for the crust is pretty specific, but it works out well, especially for us process-minded engineering types!

Mmmmm, Pie~my favorite. Here is one I made on a lark the first time but has become one of our staples. It is my most requested pie:

************************CHERRY~APPLE~PINEAPPLE PIE************

Pie Crust - you probably have a favorite, but I make mine with lard. Chill it for about 15 minutes after you put the bottom crust in the pan and before you add the filling

2 C Granny Smith Apples
2 C Golden delicious
1 C Pie Cherries
Pineapple chunks from 1/4 fresh pineapple
1/2 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 T lemon juice
Pinch of Salt
1 T granulated sugar
1 1/2 T cornstarch
Cinnamon - we like a lot!

Combine apples, brown sugar, lemon juice and salt in large bowl, set aside for 15 minutes. Mix the granulated sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch together in small bowl; stir into the apples. Add the cherries and pineapple. Stir to combine. Add to chilled pie shell, top with top crust, crimp edges. Bake at 400* for 30 minutes, reduce temp to 375 and rotate the pie. Bake another 25 to 30 minutes until golden brown.

Chocolate Pecan! Just put some good chocolate chunks in the pie shell before adding the Pecan filling.
It's a surprise!

Deanna

I am such a terrible pie-maker I don't even have a category for pie in my recipe file!

(Funniest thing about that is...I didn't even realize it until just now! LOL)

Good luck...I am sure you'll pick a winner!

Linda

Here's a link to the recipe and a picture of the caramel apple pie I made. The secret to a good apple pie though is the apples. Best to use a mix. Granny Smith, cortland and empire are my favorites. I have no photography or dough shaping skills so my pie is "rustic" looking to say the least! I'm not sure if I used the crust recipe listed or used my own, I would go with a T&T crust.

This is one I hope to try soon. I saw it on Nigella Lawsons Christmas Special on The Food Network. She called the topping bourbon butterscotch topping. It looked amazing.

The recipe is from a UK site. I couldn't find it on TFN website.

Girdle Buster Pie

INGREDIENTS
FOR THE BASE
375g digestive biscuits
75g soft unsalted butter
50g dark chocolate pieces or chips
50g milk chocolate pieces or chips

FOR THE ICE CREAM FILLING
1 litre coffee ice cream
FOR THE TOPPING
300g golden syrup
100g light muscovado sugar
¼ teaspoon Maldon salt or pinch of table salt
75g unsalted butter
2 x 15ml tablespoons bourbon
125ml double cream

METHOD
1. Process the biscuits with the butter and chocolate pieces or chips until it forms a damp but still crumb-like clump. Press into a 23cm pie plate or flan dish. Form a lip of biscuit a little higher than the plate or dish if you can. This process takes patience as you need ideally to form a smooth even layer. Sorry. Freeze this biscuit-lined layer for about an hour so it gets really hard.
2. In the meantime, let your ice cream soften, just enough to be scooped, in the fridge. Spread the ice cream into the hard-biscuit-lined dish to form a layer. Then cover in clingfilm and replace in the freezer.
3. Put the syrup, sugar, salt (if using) and butter into a saucepan and let it melt over a low to medium heat, before turning it up and boiling for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the bourbon, letting it hiss in the pan. Add the cream and stir to mix into a sauce, then leave to cool. And once the sauce is cool, but not set cold, pour it over the pie to cover the ice cream layer and then put it back in the freezer. Once frozen, cover with clingfilm again.
4. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer, take the whole pie out of its dish and cut into slices. Should you have any pie left over, slip it quickly back into the dish and return, covered with clingfilm, to the freezer.

FREEZE AHEAD TIP Make and freeze the pie in its dish, as directed, but cover with clingfilm and a double layer of foil. Freeze for up to 6 months.

Boston Cream Pie isn't really a pie but OMG it's good! I don't have a recipe handy but I know Ann T has one hopefully she'll post.

Sharon is right, it might not be technically a pie, but it is amazingly good. And it is called "Pie".

Home Cookin Chapter: Recipes From Thibeault's Table

Boston Cream Pie
================

.
Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffly. Add the egg and
beat until creamy.

Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add alternately with
the combined milk and vanilla.

Turn the batter into a greased and floured 9-inch round layer cake pan.
Bake in a 350° oven for about 30 minutes, or until the cake springs
back when lightly touched in the center.

Cool on a rack for 5 minutes, then turn out and cool completely; Place
the cake on a serving plate and split horizontally into two layers with
a serrated knife. Carefully remove the top layer.

Fill with the chilled Cream Filling. Replace the top half and pour the
warm Chocolate Icing over the top, spreading only to the edges. Chill.
(When allowed to stand for several hours, the filling seeps into the
cake, making the cake and filling seem almost as one.)

Cream Filling

1/2 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons flour
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups milk

Combine the sugar, flour, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually stir in the
milk. Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture comes to a boil.
Boil, stirring for 1 minute. Beat the egg yolks slightly. Gradually
stir in about half the thickened sauce. Return to the heat and cook.
stirring 2 or 3 minutes longer to take away the flour taste. Remove
from the heat and blend in the butter. Strain into a bowl. Cool for a
few minutes, then blend in the vanilla. Cover and cool, then chill.

Chocolate Icing

2 squares of chocolate
1 cup sifted icing sugar
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoons hot water
1 teaspoon vanilla

Melt the chocolate and butter the microwave on medium low power. Stir
until smooth, and blend in the icing sugar and hot water. Stir until
smooth and slightly thickened (do not beat). Stir in the vanilla. Use
immediately.

I made this pecan coconut pie on Sunday, and we really liked it. I'm also including a couple of other unusual pecan pies that we like. I'm thinking if you added some chocolate to the one with coconut it would sorta be like an Almond Joy candy bar. Although made with pecans, of course LOL.

Becky

* Exported from MasterCook *

Pecan Coconut Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
3 tablespoons butter or margarine -- melted
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Pinch salt
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut
1 unbaked pastry shell -- (9 inch)

1. In a mixing bowl, beat eggs. Add the sugar, corn syrup, butter, vanilla and salt; mix well. Stir in pecans and coconut. Pour into pastry shell. Make a domed cover with foil. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Uncover; bake 10-15 minutes longer or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

www.allrecipes.com
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* Exported from MasterCook *

Kentucky Chocolate - Pecan Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories :

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 9 inch pie shell -- unbaked
1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
2 large eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter -- melted (1 stick/4
ounces)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla

Spread chopped nuts over the bottom of the prepared (unbaked) pie shell; sprinkle with chocolate morsels. In a small mixing bowl, whisk eggs. Whisk in sugars, flour, salt, vanilla, and butter. Pour batter evenly over nuts and chocolate chips. Bake in a 325° oven for 35 to 40 minutes.

Bourbon Whipped Cream

1 cup chilled whipping cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon good bourbon (or 1/2 teaspoon rum flavoring)

For best results, chill bowl and beaters. Beat cream until thickened; add sugar and flavoring, then beat until soft peaks form. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Source:
"http://southernfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa042002a.htm";

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NOTES : Add a tablespoon of bourbon or a teaspoon of rum flavoring to this pie for a more "spirited" flavor.

Made 12-31-07 Very good, very rich. Didn't bother with the flavored whipped cream.

* Exported from MasterCook *

Maple Pecan Pie

Recipe By :
Serving Size : 0 Preparation Time :0:00
Categories : Pies

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups pecan halves
1 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup butter
1 cup heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Spread the nuts evenly over pie shell.
Mix together butter or margarine, vanilla, and flour. Beat the eggs well, and blend into the flour mixture. Add salt, maple syrup, and cream. Pour filling over the nuts in the pie shell. Make sure the nuts are covered, so they will not burn.
Bake for 50 to 60 minutes, or until knife inserted in center come out clean. Let cool at least 15 minutes before serving.
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I think a fruit pie would complement the Lemon Meringue Pie that you are already planning on.

I've lots of ideas... can you get Marionberries where you are? They might be outstanding, can never get them here. Another might be Dutch Apple with Dried Cherries. Can't go wrong with frozen blueberries or cherries either.

Here's a favorite of mine, I think LPink mentioned it...

Chocolate cream pie ala cook's illustrated
It's not unique, but it's the one pie I lust after, and beg my brother to make for me every year on my birthday. (the recipe is a little involved) He's a geek and a foodie nerd so the science of the whole thing appeals to him.

Thanks for the great suggestions. I've saved them for later use. Based on my audience, I selected Apple-Cherry- Pinapple for it's "huh" appeal. Unfortunately, it didn't win among the 20 or so entries. It got alot of kudos but no ribbons. I did win in the presentation category with my Lemon Meringue, so I came out proud and bloated!

The overall winner was a fantastic Sweet Potato Pie.

michaelp

I am SOOO JEALOUS. Since pie is my all time favorite dessert, it sounds like a heavanly day!! I had a feeling the lemon mereingue was going to be some kind of winner.

Deanna, I'm with you on the chocolate pecan pie! Made one by pure accident this year and it was wonderful. There was some leftover melted chocolate sitting on the stove that I didn't want to waste, so I spread it in the bottom of the crust before adding my pecans - worked beautiful and tasted great - not chocolatey, just a hint of something chocolate.

Ann_t, in your White Chocolate Cream cheese Raspberry Tart, how much sugar is used? It just says 1/2 white sugar.
Thanks

Tami

Tami, Sorry, I thought I had edited the recipe to show 1/2 cup of sugar.

Ann

Michael, can you snag the recipe for the winning entry?

Jessy,

I'll try on Monday. It was spectacular.

Becky's Kentucky Chocolate Pecan Pie is made 2x a year...Thanksgiving and Christmas since I made it last year at Thanksgiving..LOL

I even made it Gluten Free this Thanksgiving... YUMMMY!

Michael:
Here is my new recipe for Cheese Cake. Like a Creamy NY.
You can top it with any fruit Sauce mix.
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Lous - Creamy Italian Cheese Cake

Ingredients:
15 Oz. Container of Sargentos Ricotta Cheese (Velvety Smooth )
8 Oz. Philadelphia Cream Cheese ( room temperature )
6 X large eggs ( Separated )
1 Cup of Vanilla Ice Cream, Softened.
1/2 cup of Milk
1/2 cup of Orange juice
1 teaspoon of Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon of Vanilla
4 tablespoons of Softened Butter
1 cup of Sugar + 3 tablespoons
1 heaping teaspoon of Orange Zest

4 tablespoons of AP flour
1 tablespoon of Cornstarch
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Beat egg whites, with 3 Tablespoons of sugar, until stiff peaks.
Put aside until the batter is mixed.

Place all the other ingredients , ( except the flour and cornstarch )
In a bowl large enough to hold beaten egg whites.
Beat until smooth ( about 3 minutes )
Add the flour. Beat another minute.
Add the Cornstarch beat 1 minute.
Fold in the Beaten Egg Whites
Pour into a 9 1/2 inch Spring Form Pan lined with a Graham Cracker Crust.
Wrap the bottom of the pan and up the sides about 1 inch, with Aluminum Foil
Bake on an upper oven shelf of a 350 Degree oven for about 1 hour,
Or until the top is a Golden Tan. Leave it in the oven until it cools down.
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Graham Cracker Crust:
Put 14 Crackers in a one Quart Zip lock bag and crumble with a rolling pin,
Place in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoons of Sugar and 5 Tblspns of melted Butter.
Mix and place in the Bottom of the Spring Form and up the sides about 1 ¼ Inches
Bake at 350 for about 15 to 20 minutes until firm.
Springform Pan tip: Flip the bottom over so the recess in facing down.
You will be able to get the Cake out easier.

Michael,
This has nothing to do with pies, but since you described your group as including engineers, I wondered if you had ever seen "Cooking for Engineers?"