Pecan

This recipe is a way to show off the best summer fruit you can find. If possible, use an assortment of fruits, such as plums, peaches, figs, and berries, but make sure that all the fruit is up to snuff. Rather than striving for variety and ending up with less-than-ideal examples of each fruit, you’re better off with a simpler salad composed of only the most perfect nectarines or gorgeous peaches all alone. The dressing is made by pounding some of the fruit into a juicy vinaigrette. Figs are my favorite for this purpose. They mellow the vinegar and give the dressing body and chunkiness. If you’ve never had a Marcona almond, you may not forgive me for introducing you to them. Rich and dense, this Spanish almond variety is outrageously addictive. If you can’t find Marcona almonds, use toasted regular almonds or pecans.

These nuts smell wonderful while baking. I use them in Grilled Chicken Salad with Apples and Roquefort (page 130), but I also eat them as a snack all the time. When I have some left, I put out a bowl for guests. They keep well for up to three days, but they rarely last that long in my house.

Poached pears always make a lovely dessert, but what makes this extra pleasing is the addition of glazed pecans.

Long before the Crunchy Ice Cream Pie was famous at Michele’s Pies, it was famous in my hometown of Westport, Connecticut. Whenever my mom would make this frozen treat, I was suddenly the most popular kid in the neighborhood! These are a hit at children’s birthday parties, a Fourth of July gathering, or any other warm-weather celebration. Best of all on those hot summer days, there’s no need to turn on the oven. Serve this pie with a dollop of Whipped Cream (page 193) and a drizzle of Hot Fudge Sauce (page 191).

One of my fondest memories is of making a dessert with my mom that the two of us referred to simply as “our delight.” Every time I saw the pieces of this creamy banana-coconut concoction being put together in the kitchen, I would begin counting down the hours until dessert. In the years that followed my mom’s passing, I made this pie only a handful of times because I could never match her recipe. Then one morning I woke up and realized I could put a twist on “our delight” by re-creating the banana-coconut cream and inserting the fi lling into a pecan-infused piecrust, created specifically for this pie. “Our delight” now became pure delight. Mom’s Banana-Coconut Delight Pie is best when refrigerated overnight and served cold the next day. It can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

At Michele’s Pies we have pies for peach fans, apple junkies, pineapple aficionados, and lemon lovers. But what about raisins? Just to be sure we had something for everyone, this pie combines raisins, sweet butterscotch, and crunchy oats and pecans to create an almost candylike dessert that will hit your sweet tooth just right. This pie is delicious served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a drizzle of Caramel Sauce.

I don’t know about you, but I take caramel very seriously. Over time, I’ve perfected a recipe that results in a thick, sweet caramel sauce, which perfectly offsets the pecans and flaky crust of this pie. The caramel also intermingles delightfully with melted chocolate and buttery pecans, making for a rich, dense, decadent pie. Serve with a dollop of Whipped Cream (page 193) or a scoop of dulce de leche ice cream

This is not only our signature pie but, more than that, I consider it my “lucky” pie. In addition to its being our first National Pie Championships winner, our customers voted it into Good Morning America’s “Best Slice Challenge” contest. The segment aired just a few days before my first Thanksgiving in the shop, making it nearly impossible to keep this pie stocked for the holidays. To really blow your guests away, I recommend serving this pie warm with a drizzle of Bourbon Sauce (page 190) or a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top.

One of the greatest compliments I’ve received in my professional life thus far was being told that I “make pecan pie like a true Southerner.” In this chapter, you’ll find a few variations, but nice as it is to mix things up sometimes, there’s also much to be said for the clean taste and sweet flavor of traditional Pecan Pie. In addition to capping off holiday meals, it is also a great way to end a summer barbecue.

This pie will always have a special meaning to me because it was the centerpiece of the bake-off of my dreams! I remember watching Food Network programs as a teenager, thinking, “I would love to be on these shows!” Well, thanks to Bobby Flay, I got the chance to prove that my pies could compete with the best. In November 2009 he challenged me to a pumpkin pie throwdown on Throwdown! with Bobby Flay. Although Bobby ultimately won the throwdown, he told me my version was “one of the best pumpkin pies I have ever eaten.” I like to serve this pie with a dollop of Maple Whipped Cream (page 194).

Salted nuts balance the sweetness of caramel in these candy-like cookies. These bars are quite rich, so feel free to cut them in half.

This rustic cake has the flavor and texture of an old-fashioned Eastern European dessert. Use either a nut grinder or food processor to grind pecans.

If you don’t have a cake ring, you can use a nine-inch springform pan instead; make sure the dough comes up 1 1/2 inches from the bottom of the pan.

This free-form dough can be shaped into two longer loaves or one big round; you may need to adjust the baking time.

Baking these buns in muffin tins ensures that each one will have a crisp, sugary edge, as well as a delicious, soft center.

An abundance of grated carrots makes these cupcakes moist, while granulated sugar, instead of the traditional brown, keeps them light.

These shortbread sandwiches are laced with chopped pecans and toasted coconut and filled with buttery caramel. Be sure to let cookies cool completely before filling, or bake them a day in advance and fill the next day.

Our method for preparing these classic cookies differs from most recipes. Rather than rolling them in sugar while they’re still warm, we let them cool first; this keeps the sugar from becoming pasty while preserving the cookie’s characteristic texture. The result is a cookie that truly melts in your mouth.

If you use miniloaf pans, reduce the baking time to forty-five minutes. The recipe comes from Deanna Caceres Cahn, a former brand manager in the Martha Stewart Signature furniture group.

Aaron DiGrassie (Mrs. Rowe’s grandson) picked up this fabulous, off beat recipe when he worked at Ford’s Colony in Williamsburg, Virginia. Now a new father and the restaurant’s general manager, Aaron has come a long way since the day when he first started working in his grandmother’s restaurant business. At the age of ten, the ambitious boy made and sold pie boxes for 10 cents each.