Shoofly Pie Cupcakes

If you saw my post on shoofly pie bars, you now know what shoofly pie is (if you didn't see the post, have a look).  I could say that shoofly pie cupcakes are my cupcake interpretation of shoofly pie.  But, it's more fun to say that shoofly pie cupcakes are the cupcake version of shoofly pie bars, which are the bar version of shoofly pie.

Shoofly pie cupcakes are sticky sweet cupcakes made with sugar syrup and brown sugar crumbs.  They are best served warm with whipped cream or à la mode.

Shoofly Pie Bars

Shoofly pie (or Shoo-Fly pie) bars are a modern twist on the classic Pennsylvania Dutch pie made with sugar syrup (more on which kind of syrup later). Shoofly pie bars start with a buttery oatmeal shortbread base - solid enough for you to hand-hold the bars. Above the shortbread is a blend of spiced brown sugar crumbs and sugary syrup that solidifies into a moist/spongy cake layer (it's what coffee cake wishes it could be).  The top is scattered with a few more of those brown sugar crumbs for good measure. 

Though you may never have tried shoofly pie (and I can almost guarantee that you've never had shoofly pie bars), shoofly pie bars are one of those desserts that feels familiar and homey (after all, they're mostly butter and sugar) - nothing avant garde like cucumber juice.  Shoofly pie bars taste like a timeless dessert: a simple, sweet touch to end a meal.

But, the way your shoofly pie bars taste has a lot to do with what syrup or syrup blend you use.

Pumpkin Pie Frosting

Pumpkin pie frosting is not frosting that is kinda sorta like pumpkin pie.  It's not a buttercream with some pumpkin mixed in, or a cream cheese frosting with a dash of pumpkin pie spice.  Pumpkin pie frosting is honest-to-goodness pumpkin pie (minus the crust - although you could add that too if you wanted) piped onto cupcakes.

It turns out that pumpkin pie is perfectly pipe-able.  Try out this pumpkin pie frosting as the ideal complement for any Fall cupcake flavor.  I piped mine onto apple cobbler cupcakes.  But, for other Fall cupcake inspiration, check out my top ten Fall cupcake recipes.

Peach Pie with Brie - Cupcake Style

Peach pie - sweet, gooey peaches, buttery crust, topped with cool, creamy vanilla ice cream - an irresistible summer dessert. Not able to leave a classic alone, I made two key changes to the traditional peach pie recipe:

1. I added Brie cheese (full disclosure - I was given the Brie cheese for free from Ile de France so I had to do something cool with it! Thanks, Ile de France!!)Before you start doubting the peach pie with Brie cheese, consider the popular pie combination of apple and cheddar (cheese is not a new ingredient to the pie world). Then, think about a time when you've had baked Brie with fruit compote (if you've never had baked Brie with fruit, rectify that right now!). Brie goes really well with fruit. In the case of my mini peach pies, tasters could barely tell that the Brie was there unless they knew to look for it. It mostly added some complexity to the flavors, mixing a little sour into the otherwise sweet mix.
2. I made the peach pies cupcake style. As you'll see as you move further into the post, I made the mini pies three different ways: crust cut out on top, lattice top, and peach juice pecan top.
   

Peach Pie with Brie Recipe

The Crust

If you already have a favorite pie crust recipe, feel free to use that. I used a recipe from the classic Vincent Price cookbook that is actually designed for an apple tart rather than a pie. I like that it has a mild lemon flavor. Crusts should have a flavor and stand up on their own, not just be a delivery mechanism for pie filling.

I've been using the Vincent Price recipe since I was a kid. You make the whole thing with your hands, and I've always loved the messiness of it. It doesn't roll out as well as some other crust recipes that I've tried, but to me it's worth the extra effort for the sublime flavor.

I'm reprinting the recipe below in my own words, with a slight modification from the original.

Double the recipe if you plan to put a lattice or top crust on your mini pies.

• 2 1/2 C flour
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1 C (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 4 egg yolks
• Grated rind of one lemon

1. Clean your counter well and pour flour onto the counter.
2. Make the letter O with the flour and put all of the other ingredients in the middle of the O (see photo above).
3. Using your hands, work the center ingredients into a paste and then knead in the flour. If necessary, dip your fingers in water while you are working to help the dough stick together better.
4. Roll the dough into a ball and refrigerate for at least thirty minutes.

The Peach Filling

I got the recipe for the peach filling from allrecipes. I am reprinting it with slight modifications below.

• 5 C sliced peaches (about 8 medium-sized peaches)
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 C white sugar
• 1/2 t ground cinnamon
• 1/4 t ground nutmeg
• 1/4 t salt

1. Place the sliced peaches in a large bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice.
   
2. Mix gently.
   
3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
   
4. Pour over the peaches, and mix gently.
   

Putting It All Together

As I mentioned at the beginning of the post, I made these mini pies three ways. However, the basic setup is the same and should make about 24 mini pies.

• Unbaked pie dough (see above)
  
• Prepared peach filling (see above)
• 4 oz Brie cheese
  

1. Remove half of the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick.
2. Use a 3 1/2 inch diameter circle cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. If you don't have a cookie cutter that width, see if you have a glass you can use or experiment with different widths.
   
3. Put cupcake liners into cupcake tins.
4. Press the center of your circle into the bottom of a cupcake liner and work the rest up the sides. It should come about 3/4 of the way up the side. I experimented with different heights and found this to be the most pleasing to me, but higher or lower won't destroy anything. Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the dough.
5. Fill the pie crusts with slices of the prepared peach filling.
6. Dot the top of the peach filling with small pieces of Brie (I used four pieces about the size of my fingertip). If you don't want to use Brie, you can dot with butter instead.
   
7. Choose the option that you want for the top and assemble (these are covered later).
8. Bake at 350 F for about 25 minutes.
   

Option One - The Little Pie Crust Cutout

For some of the mini pies, I topped the peaches and brie with some extra pie crust that I cut out using a tiny cookie cutter (OK - it was a tool from a Play-Doh kit). While I used stars, I think hearts would be really cute.

Option Two - The Classic Lattice

For other pies, I topped the peaches and Brie with a classic pie lattice. I cut out the strips of lattice using a pastry cutter to give them jagged edges.

Option Three - Peach Juice and Nut Goodness

For the remainder of the pies, I wanted to use up the sugared peach juice that was left over after I put all the peach filling into the pies. I had somewhere between a half cup and three quarters cup of sweetened peach juice left in my bowl. I mixed that with a quarter cup of flour to thicken it up and a quarter cup of pecans to add some crunch. Then, I spooned that mixture on top of the mini pies. While I liked all three varieties of pie, I think this one was my favorite.

On the left you can see the set up without the goodness on top.
On the right, you see it with the goodness spooned on.

Other Mini Pies

If you like the idea of making mini pies, you may also want to check out my recipe for mini pumpkin pies.

Mini Pumpkin Pie Recipe - Cup-Pies

Mini Pumpkin Pie Recipe

Pumpkin pie is a holiday staple. However, isn't it the best when everyone gets their own mini pumpkin pie (cup-pies)? (Note: Mini sweet potato pies are also a favorite of mine.)

Here's What the mini pumpkin pie recipe tasters had to say:

• My father was in town from NY to taste the pumpkin pie recipe. If it seems like I am always having out of town guests from somewhere, it's true. Dad said that the pumpkin pies were one of the best pastries he has ever had. This is not only because he's my dad. He also tried the Soda Fountain cupcakes (which were picked by Bride and Groom 1.0 for their wedding) and openly admitted that he didn't like them at all. He is not shy with opinions.

• My mom and aunt also tried the mini pumpkin pies. They were in town the weekend after my dad. This means that the mini pumpkin pies were already a week old (I kept them in the fridge). I didn't think they were quite as good as they were when they were fresh. However, my relatives loved them. The cup-pies, however, were not their favorite. I had frozen some Better Than Sex chocolate cupcakes for them and they both thought that nothing could compare to the chocolate.
• Bride 2.0 said "mmmmm... pumpkin."
• Groom 2.0 said that they couldn't choose them for their wedding because they weren't actually cupcakes. Bah humbug!

The Pumpkin Pie Crust Recipe
Back in January, the St. Louis food bloggers got together and took a pie class at Kitchen Conservatory. The photo on the left is from Iron Stef's write-up of the event. I'm the redhead in the front. Next to me is Karen of FamilyStyle Food and next to her is Alanna, the esteemed host of Pi Day. The class was a blast, however I definitely felt like the class klutz. I was the one who cut myself using the apple peeler/corer and ended up going home with a band-aid. Note that my mini pie doesn't feature apples. Also note that I am the only one in the picture not wearing an apron. Why wear an apron when you can get flour all over yourself? I'm such the rebel!
Our instructor, Anne, had some rules that she pounded into our heads.
1. Don't overwork the dough. (She held our hands behind our backs to keep us from touching it.)
2. Don't add too much water.
When I made my mini pumpkin pies, I broke both of these rules. Did it effect the quality of the pie crust? Maybe, but none of my tasters could tell. I even got the thumbs up from a friend who prides herself on her pie crusts.
The details on how to make this pie crust are laid out very clearly on Kitchen Parade, complete with step by step pictures. I made one intentional modification. I refuse to use Crisco so I used all butter. My other modification was not planned. I ended up using 18 T of water instead of 2-4. I couldn't get the dough to stick together at all without adding more and more water. My teacher would not be proud.
Lesson: Don't worry about getting it 100% right. No one will know the difference except you.

Here is the recipe from Kitchen Parade with my modifications:

• 18 T ice water (This was where her recipe said 2-4 T)
• 2 c flour
• 2 t sugar
• 1 t salt
• 2 sticks (1 c) cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Stir together 1 cup of flour, sugar, and salt. With hand-held pastry blender, cut 1/2 of the butter into the four until butter is dime-sized. (I didn't have a pastry blender so I just used my hands.) Add the rest of the butter the same way. Lightly stir in the remaining flour. Add water one T at a time until the dough just sticks together. Wrap in plastic wrap and stick in the fridge until you are ready to use it.

Note: This is one of the few recipes that I have not made in my Kitchen Aid. I learned from Anne that butter should not be fully integrated and the Kitchen Aid would have done just that.

The Pumpkin Pie Filling Recipe

I found the pumpkin pie filling recipe on Allrecipes. It had many, many (561) fantastic reviews so I decided to give it a go. I have reprinted it with my comments below.

• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 egg whites

In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, sweetened condensed milk, and egg yolks. Stir in 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. In a large glass or metal bowl, whip egg whites until soft peaks form. Gently fold into pumpkin mixture.

The Streusel Topping Recipe

• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1/4 c packed brown sugar
• 1 t ground cinnamon
• 2 T butter, chilled
• 1 c chopped walnuts (I used pecans simply because I like them better.)

In a small bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Blend in the cold butter with a fork or pastry blender until the mixture is crumbly. Mix in the chopped nuts. This made almost twice as much as topping as I needed. Unless you want a ton of topping, you might consider cutting this in half.

Putting Your Mini Pies Together
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). You will not be baking at this temperature. However, you want to make your oven nice and hot. This, as I learned in my pie class, is extremely important. Line 2 cupcake tins with cupcake liners. I made about 30 cup-pies with this recipe. I baked the 24 and then the extra six. If you have 3 tins at the ready you can do it all at once. Also, I expect the number you will get to vary depending on the intricacies of dough thickness and pumpkin pie filling height.
Remove half of the dough from the fridge and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch thick. Use a 3 1/2 inch diameter circle cookie cutter to cut the dough into circles. If you don't have a cookie cutter that width, see if you have a glass you can use or you can experiment with different widths. Press the center of your circle into the bottom of a cupcake liner and work the rest into the bottom of the liner and up the sides. It should come about 3/4 of the way up the side. I experimented with different heights and found this to be the most pleasing to me, but higher or lower won't destroy anything. Repeat the same procedure with the other half of the dough.
Pour the pumpkin pie filling into the pie dough cups. Each cup should be slightly more than halfway full.
Lower the oven temp to 375. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven and sprinkle the streusel topping over each cup-pie. Bake for another 15 minutes or until the pie is set (doesn't wiggle around when you touch it.)

The Vanilla Bean Buttercream Frosting Swirl
I topped each cup-pie with a small swirl of vanilla bean buttercream frosting. The vanilla bean buttercream frosting recipe can be found here.

Pi Day Footnote

Alanna over at Kitchen Parade is hosting pi (3.14) day. Alanna is our St. Louis food blogger social director and is a mentor to me as I build this blog. I had to participate. She's the reason why I made these mini pumpkin pies.