Mini Pies!

Who watches Pushing Daisies? Well, in last night’s episode, the show’s heroine decided to create “cup pies” – mini pies baked in cupcake tins. Which means that some striking writer in Hollywood can read my mind, because I have been talking about baking mini pies for weeks.

Here’s the genius reasoning behind mini pies:

1) Sometimes, you don’t want an entire pie slice. Mini pies provide the perfect mid-day nibble.

2) Mini pies have a higher crust-to-filling ration than normal pie. If you love pie crust, mini pies are the way to go.

3) Cupcakes might be taking over the world, but not everyone likes cupcakes. Some people prefer pies to cakes. Mini pies provide the same cute, one-serving appeal as cupcakes, but they’re pies.

Don’t confuse mini pies with tarts. Tarts are made in tart pans. Mini pies go in cupcake tins.

I made apple-honey-thyme and heart-shaped pumpkin mini pies today. They look adorable. See?

So forget cupcakes! They've enjoyed their bake-sale, PTA-meeting, and potluck domination long enough.

Join me in spreading the joy of mini pies!

Apple-Thyme Mini Pies

Makes five to six mini pies.

Ingredients:

2 cups apples, very finely chopped (I used Pink Lady apples)
1/4 cup honey
2 tsp tapioca
3 sprigs thyme
1/2 tsp cinnamon, ground
1/4 tsp fresh rosemary, minced
a little butter (less than a teaspoon)
all-butter pie dough

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Pour the honey and a small amount of water into a saucepan. Bring the honey up to a boil. Add the thyme leaves and rosemary. Stir in the apples and the butter. When the apples become brown, add the tapioca and give the mix a few good stirs with a wooden spoon.

Use a mini-cupcake pan. Line the cups with rolled-out pie dough. Prick the pie dough with a fork. Fill the muffin cups with the apple-honey-thyme mixture. Cut the leftover pie dough into strips and create a tic-tac-toe board across each mini pies' top. Pinch the dough to create a scalloped pattern around the mini pies' edges.

Put the mini pies in the oven for around half an hour, or until the pies' crusts look golden brown and the filling looks hot and bubbly. Put the muffin pan on a wire rack and let the mini pies cool.

Enjoy the mini pie with whipped cream or (my preference) a teeny slice of good, aged cheddar.

Mini Pumpkin Pies

This is my entry for Sugar High Friday November.

I used the Betty Crocker recipe, but I omitted the cloves and added a teaspoon of nutmeg and a fourth teaspoon of cardamom. Also, I mixed up the filling in a blender (my mother's lauded technique). Just measure all of the ingredients into your blender, making sure to add the pumpkin last. Let the blender work its magic. Your filling will come out uber-smooth, not to mention easy-as-pie to pour.

I used cushaw squash, which I roasted and pureéd, for the filling.

I used a muffin tin with heart-shaped cups. To remove pumpkin hearts, run a table knife around the edges of the muffin cups. Slide the knife underneath the heart, and lift it very carefully from the tin. Hearts can break, don't you know.