The Perfect All-Purpose Light Pie Crust

For Thanksgiving, I was in charge of desserts - aside from Taylor's adorable Pilgrim's Hat Cookies, of course. Pie is the traditional dessert for the holidays, but, like usual, I was short on time. I didn't want to resort to a store-bought pie crust - homemade ones are just so much more fun! So I was thrilled when I came across the recipe for the All-Purpose Light Piecrust on myrecipes.com. It's easy to make, lower in fat and calories than other pie crusts, and tastes delicious!

Just in time for Christmas, I'd like to share it with you!

Ingredients:
5 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/4 cups)
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup boiling water

1. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in a bowl.




2. Cut in shortening with a pastry knife or two knives until it resembles a coarse meal.


3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Combine butter and water. Pour butter mixture into the the center of the well.


4. Gently draw the flour mixture into the butter mixture until moist clumps form.


5. Press dough into a 4-inch circle. Wrap with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.


6. Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Unwrap the chilled dough and place on the plastic wrap. Cover with 2 more sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough into a 13-inch circle.


7. Remove the top 2 sheets of plastic wrap. Fit dough, plastic wrap-side-up into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap.


8. Fold edges of dough inward to create a clean, even edge.


9. Flute the edges of the dough by gently pressing outward with your fingers.


10. Pierce the dough with a fork. (This helps prevent distortion of the pie crust as it bakes.)


11. Line the bottom of the pie dough with foil and top with pie weights or dried beans. The weights keep the center of the pie crust from getting bubbles or rising as the crust bakes.


12. Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit or until browned. (Caution: Some pie recipes do not require pre-baking the crust so refer to your recipe here.)


Now fill with your favorite pie recipe! At Thanksgiving, I made the Spiced Pumpkin Chiffon Pie, which people raved was the best pumpkin pie they'd ever had. I think that's because it's a very light, fluffy pumpkin pie - not the dense stuff we grew up on. Another recipe I recommend is the Gingery Cranberry-Pear Pie with Oatmeal Streusel. When I made this one, I substituted 2 Granny Smith apples, 2 Pink Lady apples, and 2 Fuji apples for the pears. Thanks to myrecipes.com for such great recipes!

Time for a Wreath Change!

If you recall back in October, I decorated some Fall wreaths to match the season. In case you missed it, I started with a plain brown wreath and stuck various flowers and leaves into it. The wreath held all the decorations without any glue so I could easily pull them back out and stick new ones in for winter!

First, I wanted a really traditional wreath with lots of greenery. The pine cones and berries were ON SALE at both Michael's and JoAnn's this month so they ended up being about 30 cents a piece. That's cheap!


I'm also really into blue decorations this year. To make this next wreath, I wrapped a silvery, glittery ribbon loosely around the wreath. Then I added the super cheap pine cones, berries, and glittery snowflakes. The blues are subtle and give my Florida front door a real winter feel!


And here's a wreath I made a few years ago (I apologize for the poor photo quality):


I saw Martha Stewart do it and thought, "That's easy enough! I can do that!" It's just loops of ribbon threaded onto a floral pin and stuck into a Styrofoam wreath. Yea, it was easy...but it was also very time consuming...and expensive! Spools and spools of ribbon later, the wreath was finally done. I love the finished product though!

Foodphyte Apron Winner!

Thank you to everyone who entered this week's apron giveaway! The winner, chosen by random.org, was Ali:

Ali said:
Subscribed to Foodphyte's RSS feed.
December 6, 2009 10:22 PM

Pumpkin-Cinnamon Streusel Buns

One of my favorite things to make with pumpkin during the holidays is Pumpkin-Cinnamon Streusel Buns from Cooking Light Magazine. They have just the right amount of pumpkin so you can taste it, but it's not overpowering. My husband is not a big fan of pumpkin, but he devours these rolls! And they're sweet...but not as fattening as the cinnamon rolls you can buy in the grocery store. They're just great!

Buns:

• 1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
• 1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
• 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup 1% low-fat milk
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Cooking spray
• 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons chilled butter, cut into small pieces

To prepare the buns, dissolve the yeast in warm water in a large bowl. Let it stand for 5 minutes. Add 3 cups flour, pumpkin, and next 5 ingredients (pumpkin through nutmeg); beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Turn dough out onto a floured surface.



Knead until smooth and elastic (about 10 minutes); add enough of the remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel tacky).


Place the dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, for 45 minutes or until doubled in size.


Press two fingers into the dough. If an indentation remains, the dough has risen enough.


Meanwhile, combine 3 tablespoons granulated sugar, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal.

Punch dough down; cover and let rest for 5 minutes. Roll the dough into a 12 x 10-inch rectangle on a floured surface.

Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture.


Roll up the rectangle tightly, starting with a long edge, pressing firmly to eliminate air pockets; pinch seam and ends to seal.

At this point, I like to wrap the log in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator overnight. I get cranky in the morning if I don't eat right away - it's best to avoid this crankiness at all costs, trust me. If I do all the prep work the night before, all I have to do in the morning is bake and EAT!

Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap because the roll will try to expand in the refrigerator. It will also get juicy so be sure it's airtight. Believe me when I saw that cleaning a sticky, syrupy mess in your refrigerator is not fun to do in the morning.


The next morning, remove the roll from the refrigerator and cut into 1-inch slices.


Place slices in a baking pan coated with cooking spray. (Here, the recipe calls for a 9-inch square baking pan...I just used a 9x13-inch glass dish because it's what I had on hand.) Cover and let rise 25 minutes or until doubled in size.


Preheat oven to 375°.

Bake the rolls at 375° for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool for 15 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

Glaze:

• 3/4 cup sifted powdered sugar
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

To prepare the glaze, combine the powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon water, and vanilla extract in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over buns. Serve warm.

Freebie Alert: Apron Giveaway!

I was browsing on Etsy the other day and came across Foodphyte's shop. She makes super adorable aprons, and has agreed to give one of them away to one of you!

Don't you just love it?!

For a chance to win, visit Foodphyte's shop. Then come back here and leave a comment about your favorite item.

Extra entries:
1 entry - Be a Cake Walk follower.
1 entry - Subscribe to Cake Walk's RSS feed.
1 entry - Add the Cake Walk button to your blog.
1 entry - Subscribe to Foodphyte's RSS feed.
1 entry - Leave a comment about your favorite item in the sister store Pillowphyte.
1 entry - Subscribe to Pillowphyte's RSS feed.
3 entries - Make a post about this giveaway on your own blog.
5 entries - Make a purchase from either Foodphyte or Pillowphyte. (Leave 5 comments here to get credit.)

Leave one comment per entry please. The giveaway will end December 11th at midnight eastern time. Good luck!

Cupcake Earrings Winner!

Congratulations to Amanda (comment #7) for winning the adorable cupcake earrings from egyptionruin! The winner was chosen using random.org:

Amanda said:

The Smore Keychain looks absolutely delicious and very fun! :)

December 1, 2009 5:38 PM

Sneak peak for next week's giveaway: Something cute, functional, and fashionable from Foodphyte!

The Girly Surprise Cake

This week, I made a fun girly cake for a coworker's wife's surprise birthday party!

It was yellow cake with strawberry buttercream filling and chocolate fudge frosting on the outside.

Brett wanted bright colors...

...and a handbag on top. I made a lipstick tube, 20 dollar bills, and credit cards out of gum paste so they were spilling out of the cake.

I like to let my girly side take over sometimes, and I love bright colors so this cake felt natural for me!

Happy Birthday, Angela! I hope you were surprised and had a great day!

Funky Friday Finds - 12/4/09

There's no stopping it now... We're all really gearing up for the holidays! One of the things I look forward to most every year is playing games with my family. Everyone is very competitive so the games are taken seriously, but there's still a lot of laughter and teasing.

This week, in lieu of the regular Funky Friday Finds I'll share some of my family's favorite games:

Monopoly is actually my favorite game! I actually learned to deal with money as a child by playing with Monopoly money. Nowadays, I often have a hard time finding any willing competitors because the game is so time consuming. I was thrilled when this electronic banking version came out because it really speeds the game up!

Taboo will make you stop and think before you speak, but - be careful - you're racing against the clock! You have to get your teammates to guess the word on the card, but there are forbidden - or taboo (*gasp* I get it now!) - words that you'll really want to say but can't!


Guesstures is great for a party! Basically, it's charades with a timer. It always has us rolling on the floor with laughter!


Boggle is my Dad's favorite. The rest of the family agrees to play merely in an attempt to beat him. Trust me, the Boggle King has been dethroned many times!


Cranium is another great party game. Players move around the board and have to perform various tasks that include trivia, verbal puzzles, acting/charades, and drawing/sculpting. It probably exercises every part of the brain - and it's fun!


Bananagrams was a new one for us last year. It's similar to Scrabble in that you make words with tiles...but that's where the similarities end. Everyone makes words simultaneously (no taking turns) and the first person to use all their tiles yells "bananas!" I'm not doing the game justice. Trust me, it's fast-paced, short, and fun!


Another great party game! In Catch Phrase, you can say whatever you want in order to get your teammates to guess the word in the display window. Play passes quickly back and forth between the two teams and the buzzer goes off randomly. The team still holding the device when the buzzer goes off loses that round!

But if you need a quieter game, try Jenga. But watch out, the tower may quickly tumble, and you'll al be laughing and squealing in delight!

Warning: When playing these games, you will act like a child again; you will lose track of time; and you will laugh!

The best part of baking a cake...

...is licking the bowl!

David, thanks for the email and photos!

Train Cake

Recently, one of my coworkers asked me to make a cake for her husband's birthday. To celebrate his birthday, they had tickets to ride on a train - something he's been wanting to do for years - so she wanted the cake to reflect that.

Maybe I have babies on the brain...or maybe I'm just a kid at heart, but when I think of trains, I think of childish ones. You know the ones I'm talking about - The Little Engine That Could...


...or Thomas the Tank Engine.


But that simply won't work for a grown man who wants a grown-up train. I finally decided to do a train silhouette against the blue sky. First, I iced the cake and covered it with marbleized blue fondant. (Side note: Would any of you have guessed that that's the correct way to spell marbleized? That's what spell-check tells me at least. I would have gone with "marbelized" but that's just me being the "Vocabulary Queen," as my Mom calls me... You learn something new every day, huh?)

I hand-cut the train out of black fondant and just stuck it on the side of the cake with a little water. Ta da!

For the cake topper, I made one of those old-fashioned wooden train whistles out of marbleized (there's that word again) brown fondant and a yellow banner that read "Happy Birthday."


Phew, it's always a challenge to make cakes masculine. I always want to pretty them up! This weekend, though, I get to glamorize my heart out! I've got a super girly surprise cake due this weekend, and I can't wait to start on it!