Week #15 December 6 - 12

After a few lackluster weeks of pies, I felt pressure to step up my game this week. This pressure came squarely from me. I made two new pies this week.

The first, was an apple pie, with a cheddar cheese crust. Eating apple pie with a slice of cheddar cheese is popular in New England, and I thought that this might be an interesting recipe. Here is the one I used.



The pie turned out alright. The crust was good, but unfortunately the filling wasn't stellar. There was too much juice, and the apples didn't cook enough.

Onto pie #2, the chocolate pie for the week, rum-walnut chocolate-chip.

Here is the recipe:

Rum-walnut chocolate-chip pie
Total time: About 1 hour
Servings: 10 to 12

Note: Adapted from Cold Springs Tavern. If using a homemade pie shell, blind bake the crust (lined first with foil and weights, then with weights removed) just until set, about 10 to 15 minutes. For store-bought pie crust, par-bake the pie shell just until set, using the instructions on the package.

3 eggs
2 tablespoons rum, preferably Puerto Rican white rum
3/4 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup brown sugar
Scant 1/2 cup (2 ounces) flour
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 (12 ounce) bag semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
1 1/2 sticks ( 3/4 cups) butter
1 par-baked pie shell

1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs with the rum and vanilla. Whisk in the sugar and brown sugar until incorporated, then whisk in the flour. Fold in the walnuts and half of the chocolate chips until evenly incorporated.

2. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from heat and stir in the remaining chocolate chips until melted and combined.

3. Fold the melted butter and chocolate mixture into the large bowl with the rest of the filling. Pour the filling into the par-baked pie shell. Place the pie in the oven and bake just until the pie sets (it will jiggle just slightly when tapped), 30 to 45 minutes.

4. Remove and cool completely before serving.


I redeemed myself with this bad boy.



A co-worker gave me the recipe. It had somewhat of a brownie consistency, but was slightly more fudge-like. The walnuts were good, but I couldn't really taste the rum. Overall though, it was pretty solid all-around.