Tag: easy pie

Categories
Breakfast Dessert

A crustless pie recipe can really take the cake

This fresh strawberry cake is moist and light and a fabulous dessert to pair with a bowl of vanilla ice cream or a cup of coffee.
This fresh strawberry cake is moist and light and a fabulous dessert to pair with a bowl of vanilla ice cream or a cup of coffee.

Every week, I go have lunch with my Little for Big Brothers Big Sisters. We solve the world’s problems over school food and Uno cards as only a 13-year-old and a 39-year-old can.

Recently, we discussed the nature of sandwiches. Is a hot dog a sandwich? How about a taco? Where do quesadillas come into play?

Her assessment was that tortillas didn’t count; we stalled out on the subject of buns. We’ll have to come back to it at some point and figure it out.

I was reminded of that conversation when I made this week’s recipe, except my internal struggle was: cake or pie? The recipe author calls it a “crustless pie,” but honestly, it’s a phenomenal, moist cake that just happens to be made in a pie pan—at least in my humble opinion.

Whatever the ruling, though, it was really good, and it is perfect for all the sweet berries that are starting to hit our grocery store shelves right now.

This comes from the blog “Averie Cooks.” You can find the original post at https://www.averiecooks.com/crustless-fresh-strawberry-pie/. I added extra vanilla in my version.

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Fresh Strawberry Cake

This fresh strawberry cake is moist and light and a fabulous dessert to pair with a bowl of vanilla ice cream or a cup of coffee.
Course Breakfast, Dessert
Keyword almond extract, crustless pie, easy cake, easy dessert, fresh fruit, strawberry, vanilla

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter melted
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract
  • 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar, divided
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 16 ounces fresh strawberries halved or quartered, divided

Instructions

  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Prepare a nine-inch glass pie dish by spraying it with cooking spray.
  • In a large mixing bowl, add the melted butter (let it cool a bit), eggs, vanilla extract and almond extract. Beat the mixture to combine.
  • Add in one cup of sugar, the flour and salt, and beat until you have a smooth batter.
  • Fold in all but about 1/4 cup of your strawberries, and pour the mixture into your prepared pie dish, spreading it out evenly.
  • Lightly press the remaining strawberries into the top of the batter, and sprinkle two tablespoons of sugar evenly over the top of the cake.
  • Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean.
  • Cool completely before slicing. Store any leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.

We really, really enjoyed this one. The vanilla and almond extracts compliment the flavor of the fresh strawberries perfectly and really help the fruit be the star of the dessert. This was delicious for breakfast with a cup of coffee, too.

You could easily swap in blueberries, raspberries, etc., if you’re not a strawberry fan or your local grocery store has something else on the shelves.

If you make this, you’ll have to tell me if I’m wrong in the cake vs. pie debate. I haven’t asked my Little to weigh in yet. If she’s anywhere near the expert on baked goods that she is on sandwiches, though, I’ll have a definitive answer in no time.

This piece first appeared in print on March 16, 2023.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

Categories
Dessert

The holidays are the ‘zest’ time for refreshing lemon pie

Sour cream lemon pie is a refreshing dessert that is really easy to make, especially with a pre-made graham cracker crust.
Sour cream lemon pie is a refreshing dessert that is really easy to make, especially with a pre-made graham cracker crust.

I’m constantly amazed by the things I don’t know, despite having spent a lot of time trying new ingredients and recipes over the years.

One of my favorite discoveries over the past couple of years came from a random post I saw online about store-bought graham cracker crusts.

I’m sure I am the last person to discover this, but I never knew that you could use the plastic cover on a store-bought crust as a lid if you just flip it upside down.

Joey came in the kitchen last week, just as I was washing the plastic from my crust and looked at me like I lost it.

I’m sure he thought it was one of my strange money-saving schemes.

But when I placed it handily on top of the pie I just finished, crimped the edges of the pie tin down and slid it in the fridge, he was mildly impressed.

The pie recipe I tried comes from the blog “Bunny’s Warm Oven,” by Mary Bostow. You can find the original post at https://bunnyswarmoven.net/sour-cream-lemon-pie. I didn’t change anything other than omitting the addition of whipped cream once the pie was done.

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Sour Cream Lemon Pie

Sour cream lemon pie is a refreshing dessert that is really easy to make, especially with a pre-made raham cracker crust.
Course Dessert
Keyword easy dessert, fresh lemon, graham cracker crust, lemon juice, lemon zest, pie, sour cream

Ingredients

  • 1 nine-inch graham cracker crust pre-baked
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 cup sugar
  • zest of one large lemon
  • 1/2 cup lemon juice
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup sour cream

Instructions

  • In a medium-sized saucepan, combine the cornstarch, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolks and milk. Stir well and heat over medium heat, stirring continuously.
  • After about 10 minutes, the mixture will start to thicken. Keep stirring until it begins to boil, and then remove the pan from the heat.
  • Stir in the butter until it’s fully melted and combined.
  • Let the mixture cool for about 10 minutes and then stir in the sour cream.
  • Pour the lemon mixture into the prepared crust, and refrigerate it a few hours (or overnight) until it’s completely cooled through. Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.

This was just a bit sour and a bit sweet, and while you could definitely use a normal pre-baked pie crust for this recipe, I was especially happy with the flavor profile of the graham crackers pairing with the lemon filling.

If you’re looking for a new pie to try out or just need a quick dessert as the holidays come around, keep this one on hand. It was easy to make and was a really tasty, refreshing dessert, too.

And if you’re like me and quickly start to run out of space in your pie-shaped Tupperware containers during this time of year, at least you’ll have one dessert that comes with its own lid.

This piece first appeared in print on Nov. 3, 2022.

Spice Up Your Life is a weekly newspaper column written by Lindsey Young in south central Kansas. If you are interested in sponsoring this column, please contact us through the “Contact Lindsey” link at the top of the page.

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