Life of pie

Did you know, that January 23 is widely known as the Pie Day? And if you didn’t earlier, you sure do now. So, keeping up the tradition of bringing you easy, simple and might we add extremely delicious recipes, this week too, we bring you some mouth-watering treats. Three recipes of pies that will blow your mind away — all from the kitchens of ITC?Kakatiya, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre and Fusion 9. Happy baking!

Chocolate pie, Bhupesh Singh B., Fusion 9

Ingredients

For pie crust

• 300 gm flour
• 200 gm butter
• 100 gm icing sugar
• 50 gm almond powder

Method

Cream the butter with icing sugar, then fold in the almond powder and flour to make the dough. Roll and cut into tart shapes and bake them. You could also buy readymade crusts from the market.

For the filling:

• 4 eggs
• 220 gm chocolate
• 200 gm white butter
• 200 gm castor sugar

Method:

Melt the chocolate and butter together and set aside. Whip the eggs and sugar together until they double in volume. Then fold the melted chocolate batter into the eggs. Pour the filling into the pie shell and cover with criss-cross laces of pie dough. Bake for around 30 minutes at 1800C until the filling is set around the edges but a little wobbly in the centre. Transfer the pie on to a rack and let it cool completely before cutting into wedges. Serve with whipped cream.

Apple pie, Francis Fernandes, ITC?Kakatiya

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500 gm unsalted butter
• 250 gm castor sugar
• 2 eggs
• 750 gm flour
• 20 ml vanilla essence

For the filling

• 500 gm green apples cored & peeled
• 10 gm cinnamon powder
• 50 gm castor sugar
• 25 gm unsalted butter
• 50 gm cookie crumbs
• 50 gm custard cream

Method:

For the sweet dough, cream the butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and eggs and cream further. Then add the flour, mix well and leave the dough to rest in the fridge for around two hours. Slice the apples into a bowl, add the cinnamon and sugar and mix well, and set aside.

When the sweet dough paste is ready, take it out of the fridge and roll out sufficient dough onto a pie pan. Spoon the custard over the pie base and spread around well. Now sprinkle the cookie crumbs over it and then spoon the apple filling on top of it. Then roll out some more dough and cover the top of the pie. Shave off the extra dough and use a fork to press the edges and seal well. Also use the fork to make holes on top for the air bubbles to escape. Bake in a moderate oven at 1800C until done or 30 minutes approximately. Serve warm with vanilla sauce and ice cream. 

Lamb pie, Amanna Raju, Novotel Hyderabad Convention Centre  

Ingredients

For pie crust:

• 225 gm flour
• 125 gm butter
• 40 ml milk
• 5 gm salt

Method:

First mix the flour and butter with your hands. You’ll have a grainy product left that looks like wet sand. To that add the salt and milk and mix it till it forms a ball of dough. Let it rest for 15 minutes and then roll it out.

For the filling

• 500 gm boneless lamb cut into 1 inch cubes
• 250 gm lamb kidney, cut into half
• 50 gm carrots
• 30 gm celery, chopped fine
• 30 gm leeks, chopped fine
• 100 gm onion, chopped fine
• 30 gm garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 bay leaves
• 60 ml oil, 5 gm thyme
• 50 gm flour, 120 gm tomato paste

Method:

Season the lamb with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a skillet and sear the meat. Now add the flour and brown the meat. Similarly proceed with the kidneys. Then, sauté the bay leaves, oni-on, garlic, celery and leeks. Add the carrots and tomato and cook well. Add the lamb and kidneys back to the pot and mix well. Add enough water to cover the lamb and let it simmer. Transfer the dish into a earthenware pot and cover with the pie dough. Bake at 1800C for 20-25 minutes.