Testing Holiday Recipes - Maple Brûlée Pie

Well, it's officially a month to Christmas and boy, is it ever starting to feel like winter! No snow yet, but the days are getting cooler. Hats, mittens and scarves are becoming a must and so is testing holiday recipes! What better excuse to bake a pie than having to test it out?

Let me tell you, this was one successful test. The original recipe didn't call for caramelizing the top but after seeing the baked pie, it just screamed "brûlée"! And what a great dessert to serve for a special occasion. Something like, oh, I don't know, Christmas maybe? Or New Years? Or maybe, just because you wanted to bake something sweet for your sweetie!

Maple Brûlée Pie
adapted from the top of a can of maple syrup, really!

1 cup pure maple syrup
2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell
Sugar to caramelize the top

Preheat your oven to 350F.

In a large bowl, whisk together the syrup, eggs, milk and brown sugar. Mix well and pour into pie shell.

Bake in preheated oven about 40 minutes, until the crust is golden and the custard is set.

This can be eaten at room temperature, as is. Another option is to put it in the refrigerator to cool completely, cut out portions, sprinkle some sugar onto the slices (the sugar you choose is up to you, works just as well with granulated sugar or coarse sugar) and fire up your brûlée torch! Caramelize the sugar until you get a nice crunchy layer on top of the creamy custard. Serve with fruit, ice cream or slightly sweetened whipped cream. Make sure you have some company, this is a sweet, sweet pie to be shared among friends. :)

Note: For the pie crust, I used a recipe from Karen Barker I found on Serious Eats. The dough came together beautifully and the crust turned out flaky and golden. I think this'll be my go to pie crust, for a little while anyways. Click here for the recipe!

Another Note: I'm thinking this could be spiced up with a grating of nutmeg or tonka bean. Mmmm, I'll let you know when I try.

TWD - Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies... How can someone say those words and not think that Christmas is just around the corner? How can someone smell the slightly spicy, molasses scented batter and not feel like taking the Christmas decorations out of storage right this minute? I tell ya, I almost did!

These cookies really do smell like Christmas and they are perfect in every way. Just the right amount of spices, just sweet enough and crunchy like a ginger snap. Per-fect. The only thing I did differently is make twice the cookies specified because I like the smaller, crunchier cookies.

Thank you Pamela of Cookies with Boys for choosing this as one of the November recipes for Tuesdays with Dorie. This will also be my last Tuesdays with Dorie recipe, for a while anyways. I have so many cookbooks and magazines I want to bake recipes from and with all the weekly recipes, it's just too many desserts. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, there is such a thing as too much dessert!!! It was so much fun being part of such a great group of baking enthusiasts, I most certainly will miss it. But I'll keep visiting the members' blogs and hope my Tuesdays with Dorie friends will keep visiting me too. I just need a little more time to be creative, and bake what I feel like, when I feel like it. The Holidays are just around the corner, I'll be baking up a storm pretty soon, so stay tuned!

Cheesecake Brownies for the Birthday Girl

Yesterday was my oldest daughter's birthday. She turned 9 years old and I know I've said this before but, man time sure flies! Since her birthday was in the middle of the week this year we decided to have a party with her friends this coming Saturday. I'll make cake then, most probably cupcakes, so I didn't want to make cake twice in the same week. But, I still wanted her to have a special birthday dessert.

I asked her what she would like and all she said was "Something chocolate!". That's my girl! Brownies came to mind, being an easy dessert and all, and when I searched my favorite sites these Cheesecake Brownies on David Lebovitz' blog caught my eye. Still an easy recipe but with a little something extra that really says "Birthday!".


These are deliciously chocolaty but not too sweet, just perfect for a small birthday dinner, or to perk up any ordinary weekday meal. The birthday girl was quite happy with her special dessert and so was everyone else who had a square, or two! Please visit David's blog for the recipe!