Happy Birthday Ryan! -- a Double Post!

My brother, Ryan, just had his 20th birthday. One of his longtime favorite snacks are the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop Tarts. After seeing a recent post for homemade strawberry pop tarts on my aunt's blog, most lovely things, I decided to make my brother's favorite.

I used a recipe I found online for the filling with a typical pie dough and improvised a little bit with the icing by creating my own from the leftover filling!

First here are some pics of the Smores ones I tried. They pretty much bombed because the Marshmallow Fluff practically evaporated. 

This is the size I chose to make the poptarts. You can't tell from the pic, but I put a pretty thick layer of the filling. Totally worth it.

Used some egg wash to hold it together and crimped the edges with a fork. Don't forget to poke holes in them!

Here are the beauties all hot, fresh, and ready to devour!

Recipe


Pie Dough:

2 cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for shaping and rolling
1 teaspoon coarse salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
4-5 tablespoons cold water

Combine all of the dry ingredients and then add the butter. Easiest with a food processor, but I used one of the beaters from my hand mixer to mash it all up. This was very intense, but kind of added to the fun. Add the water after the mixture is broken down to pea size. I only added about 3 tablespoons of cold water so this will vary. Divide into two, wrap and refrigerate.

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
4 teaspoons all-purpose flour
1 large egg, to brush on pastry before filling


Combine all dry ingredients. Brush the bottom crust with egg wash and put a heavy spoon of filling on top.  Close it up and crimp the sides with a fork. Poke holes in the top of the pastry. Refrigerate for 20 minutes and then bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Keep an eye on them depending on how thick you made the crust. I prefer the crust thin so it is nice and flaky.

Icing: Use the remaining filling (or make a partial) and add powdered sugar and milk until it is the consistency you like. I wanted it to be able to be drizzled on, but it is up to you!


Oh but how can I forget...I also made him some Key Lime Pie! I still dream about the Key Lime Pie I had when I was in Miami for the Orange Bowl in 2008. Maybe I am stuck on it because Kansas won the game, but this pie made me change my mind about Key Lime Pie. Clearly I don't have the ingredients to make it exactly the same as it is at the restaurant, but I can certainly use this recipe they post on their site!

Ingredients:

1 cup 2 1/2 tbsp graham cracker crumbs
5tbsp melted unsalted butter
1/3 cup sugar
3 egg yolks
Grated zest of two limes
14 ounce can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1 cup whipping cream
1 tbsp powdered sugar

Crust:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch pie pan. Break up the graham crackers; place in a food processor and process to crumbs. (If you don't have a food processor, place the crackers in a large plastic bag; seal and then crush the crackers with a rolling pin.) Add the melted butter and sugar and pulse or stir until combined. Press the mixture into the bottom and sides of the pie pan, forming a neat border around the edge. Bake the crust until set and golden, 8 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack; leave the oven on.

Filling:
Meanwhile, in an electric mixer with the wire whisk attachment, beat the egg yolks and lime zest at high speed until very fluffy, about 5 minutes. Gradually add the condensed milk and continue to beat until thick, 3 or 4 minutes longer. Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the lime juice, mixing just until combined, no longer. Pour the mixture into the crust. Bake for 10 minutes or until the filling has just set. Cool on a wire rack, then refrigerate. Freeze for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

Topping:
Whip the cream and the confectioners' sugar until nearly stiff. Cut the pie in wedges and serve very cold, topping each wedge with a large dollop of whipped cream.