Dédé developed this pumpkin pie recipe for Bon Appetit magazine years ago and they called it “perfect.” It is a very lightly spiced pie, allowing the pumpkin flavor to shine through. Par-baking the crust ensures it stays crisp, and buzzing the pumpkin in the food processor makes for an ultra-smooth texture. Don’t skip either step. […]
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Custard Pear Tart with Crystallized Ginger
Pears and ginger have a natural affinity for each other. Here, fresh pears are fortified with Poire Willem, a pear liqueur, and accented with powdered and crystallized ginger. All of this is cushioned by a rich custard; it’s autumnal heaven in a crust. Note that this pear tart is a bit plain to look at, […]

Chocolate Truffle Tart with Raspberries
You want easy? This is a super-simple chocolate truffle tart recipe that packs a chocolate wallop. Make sure the berries are firm and dry – or make it berry-less for a pure chocolate indulgence. Images: Dédé Wilson Print Chocolate Truffle Raspberry Tart Author: Bakepedia Makes: Makes 1, 11-inch tart; serves up to 20 Ingredients Crust: 1, […]

Warm Mocha Tart
Two weeks of nonstop shortbread testing produced an unorthodox surprise: perfect shortbread made with melted butter. That shortbread became an exquisitely crunchy and flavorful base for lemon bars, a crust for cheesecake and, ultimately, my favorite sweet tart crust. I even bake brownie batter on top of it. This remarkable crust barely shrinks in the […]

Concord Grape Pie
In New England, in early fall when Concord grapes are ripe, you can smell their strong, enticing aroma before you even see them. You will be walking along and the scent will hit you while your nose and eyes frantically try to find where that luscious smell is coming from. If you have ever eaten […]

Honey Apple Tart
This apple tart is very thin, very chic and very European. It highlights the fruit, is supported by a wisp of flaky pastry and kissed with a sprinkle of sugar, a brush of butter and a drizzle of honey for taste and sheen. It is very easy to put together, as it uses frozen puff […]

Deep-Dish Sour Cream Apple Pie with Lemon-Cardamom Streusel
Adapted from Unforgettable Desserts, by Dédé Wilson (Wiley) This apple pie recipe makes an extra deep dessert, formed in a springform pan. The crunchy, buttery brown sugar crumb on top is lightly accented with cardamom and lemon and is the perfect foil to the lush, rich sour cream and apple filling, which is a full […]

Sweet Tart Crust
Adapted from Unforgettable Desserts, by Dédé Wilson (Wiley) Turn to this tart crust recipe when you want a crisp, sweet crust for tarts in tart pans. Print Sweet Tart Crust Author: Bakepedia Makes: Makes one 10-inch tart crust Ingredients ½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature, cut into small pieces 5 tablespoons sugar […]

Pear Tart with Olive Oil–Cornmeal–Pine Nut Crust
Photo by Mollie Katzen From The Heart of the Plate: Vegetarian Recipes for a New Generation. Recipes, photographs and illustrations by Mollie Katzen, A Rux Martin Book, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013. Baking lemon-laced pears in a sturdy, slightly crunchy cornmeal-pine nut crust, crowned with a beautiful lattice top, might well become your new tradition. The loving care you invest in […]

Basic Flaky Pie Pastry
Image courtesy of Bakepedia This pie pastry recipe is used frequently throughout Ken Haedrich’s book, Pie, because it yields such excellent results. He sometimes calls it a half-and-half pastry, referring to the equal amounts of vegetable shortening and butter—the former for flakiness, the latter for flavor. It can be made in a food processor if you have […]

Caramel Apple Pecan Pie
Ken writes: A reporter from a large Illinois newspaper asked me if I thought the current caramel apple pie craze had anything to do with the resurgence of pie making in this country. I was clueless about the caramel apple pie craze, but I launched into a dazzling answer, as if I had been personally […]

Gluten-Free Caramelized Banana Cream Pie in Pecan Crust
Pecans, sugar and butter make up the whole of this pecan crust; no flour to get in the way of a very crunchy, nutty, gluten-free base for this banana cream pie. Bananas tossed in hot caramel create the next layer, topped with vanilla pastry cream and then a cloud of vanilla whipped cream on top. […]

Blackberry Blueberry Pie
The tail end of blueberry season just happens to correspond with the ripening of local blackberries. This fortuitous event makes us think about nutritionists telling us to “eat the rainbow” and we figure, this is about as purple as you can get. That said, creating this blackberry-blueberry pie is all about flavor. The blueberries bring […]

Berry Galette
The farmer’s market had fresh blueberries this week, and fearing they might be the last we see this year, we stocked up and got to work. Instant gratification (well, as instant as you can get in the pastry kitchen) is a good thing and a galette is an easy way to make a freshly baked berry […]

Espresso Black Bottom Pie in Chocolate Chip Cookie Crust
Sometimes you want comfort food for dessert and black bottom pie is a classic in this genre – something familiar and soothing, simple and satisfying. Consider it a stepped-up version of a classic custard pie with the black bottom being the chocolate pudding that makes up the bulk of the pie. It cuts beautifully with […]

Making Pie Crust by Hand
For speed, convenience and great results, we love to use the food processor for making pie crust, but making it by hand is a close second. All you need is a bowl and a pastry blender with sharp blades. We do find that the ones with blades, as opposed to wires, work best. If you […]

Pie Crust
This pie crust recipe is the test kitchen’s favorite for its balance of favor, texture and eye appeal. The butter gives an incomparable rich flavor and golden color and the texture will be flaky if the dough is handled well. The key is cold ingredients, not working the fat into the flour too thoroughly and […]