Chocolate Cream Pie

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 10 minutes
Filling: 30 minutes
Chill: 3 hours
Topping: 15 minutes (or less if you cheat!)

Grade: A+

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 2001)

The first time I used this recipe was the first time I ever made a cream or pudding from scratch. I thought it was so fun to see the ingredients thicken up and was happy with how easy it was. I made this one several times after that, but it has been at least 4 years since the last one. Not because it isn't great - but because I have too many good dessert recipes and not enough time for dessert!

This is really rich and delicious, but not too rich. It does use Oreos for the crust, so I guess it is not 100% home-made, but the crust is quite good. I think I could have made the filling even quicker, if my electric stove heated up faster. It just took a while for the half-and-half to come to simmer, so I was waiting around a bit.

It is really fairly easy to make. I added the extra step of straining the filling, on top of the removing the chalazae on the eggs, because I wanted to make sure there were no lumps at all.

I did cheat with the cream, and used a Cabot canned version of whipped cream. I didn't want to have to mess around with whipping up the cream with a crowded kitchen and lots of kids underfoot.

I didn't even take the photo the day I served this. I froze the leftovers and added some new cream to the top (which is why you might notice the melted cream under the new cream.) The chocolate doesn't look creamy either because it was still frozen when I shot this, but it is very creamy when thawed. (The leftovers still tasted great.)

Chicken Pot Pie (Lighter)

Prep Time: 60 minutes ???
Cook Time: 20 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The Best Light Recipe

You would probably be surprised if you tasted this, that it was considered light. It has a very rich taste to it, and the biscuits on top taste buttery. They are made with 4 T of butter and buttermilk and it is enough to make them still taste great.

I'm not sure about my prep time. I believe I got most of the prep work done for everything including the biscuit ingredients done in 35 minutes. However, the cooking of the chicken always takes a long time. I finally cut the breasts into smaller pieces. But the waiting, shredding and moving pieces around while I tried to get it all cooked probably took me more than half an hour. I believe that if the chicken cooked faster, the entire thing would have been put together quicker. I'd say 35 minutes, plut 10-15 cooking time, plus another 10 to shred the chicken, thicken the sauce, and assemple the dish.

Anyway, this is a good one and I will probably compare to the original (non-light version) this summer. But I will make this again, for sure.

P.S. I forgot to take a picture, so the above is leftovers (which is why the peas looks dingy!) The leftovers are still really good, the biscuit is just not as crispy on top.

Oatmeal Scones

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes
Cool Time: 30 minutes

Grade: A

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (September 2003)

Part of the prep time, (5-10 minutes) was spent waiting for the toasted oatmeal to cool and for the oven to finish preheating to higher temp. This is a pretty easy recipe and very good.

Strawberry Shortcake

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes
Cook Time: 12-14 minutes

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes

Recipe Source: Baking Illustrated

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (May 1997)

Fruit Tart with Pastry Cream

Pastry Cream: 17 minutes
Cool Time: 3 hours
Tart Time: 40 minutes
Assemble Time: 5 minutes (but I didn't glaze)

Grade: A-

Make Again: Yes, as long as I can master the tart dough.

Recipe Source: Cook's Illustrated (July 2001)
America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook
Baking Illustrated

This is my second attempt at making a tart. I used the 2nd half of the pastry dough from my Lemon Tart, when I tried making mini tarts. I had trouble with the tart dough again. Last time I thought my oven was too hot, and I made sure that wasn't the issue. So, I am left to believe I didn't prepare the dough correctly. My best guess is that I didn't get the butter pieces small enough in the food processor.



The dough was filled with holes and greasy. It cooked unevenly also. As before, it tasted good, but I need to figure out how to make this dough properly.

I didn't bother making a full beautiful fruit tart, because I was just experimenting, and it wasn't to serve, and I even threw away half of this, because I assumed it wouldn't keep well past 1 day. I will try again, because I think the pastry cream is also very good, and I would love to master this recipe.